AESTHETIC OSCILLATIONS IN THE NARRATIVES OF FOUR FEMALE AUTHORS FROM THE SOUTHERN CONE: NORAH LANGE, MARIA LUISA BOMBAL, ARMONIA SOMERS Y CLARICE LISPECTORMy dissertation is an examination of the work of several key women writers from the Southern Cone (Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, and Brazil), and an evaluation of the literary criticism that affected women's writing from the 1930s to the 1980s. It therefore questions the critical establishment and addresses a range of problems related to aesthetic values. It deals with several kinds of writing -by both female authors and male authors to whom they are compared and contrasted- within the context of the tradition to which they belong. What is significant is that each of these women writers (Norah Lange, Maria Luisa Bombal, Armonia Somers, and Clarice Lispector) has at least two modes of writing, and both of them are examples of "women's writing" / "feminine writing", but not as fixed essences. What I have undertaken to identify in their narratives is a range of problems related to aesthetic values and these problems are more evident when viewed from the perspective of gender. In other words, how do they stand in relation to the aesthetic values of the Avant-garde? On the one hand, their writing embodies the aesthetic values promoted by the Avant-garde. Yet they also write narratives that are not considered to display these aesthetic values (e.g., melodramatic ones). Thus, there are two groups of issues to be considered. On the one hand, writing centered on Vanguard aesthetic values, and on the other hand, writing on the margins of Vanguard aesthetic values, including the melodramatic on three levels (as genre, as theme, and as a form of cultural agency).Therefore, within institutional spaces such women's writing either does or does not become legitimated, creating a kind of oscillation between these two trends. This phenomenon has become even more pronounced as the market in the field of culture has grown. In summary, both the common ground and the zones of tension between gender and aesthetic values have become increasingly visible as these values have been constituted and consolidated within the vanguard and as the market in the field of culture has grown. It is from this perspective that I analyze the narrative works of these four twentieth-century women authors.


In this thesis I examine the relationship between a screenplay and the films made from
it. I test the hypothesis that a film based on an original (not adapted from an existing
text) screenplay is an adaptation of this screenplay. In order to investigate the potential
range of adaptations that occur during the process of film production, I commissioned a
short screenplay which was made into a film five times, by five different production
teams, each entirely independent of one another. Utilising these films as my primary
set of data, I engage in comparative analysis of the screenplay to the five films and of
each of the five films to one another. My framework for analysis is grounded in
adaptation studies, which has engaged in close comparative analysis of novel to film,
but has not made significant inquiry into the discrete phase of adaptation between
screenplay and film. Additionally, I argue that an investigation into the relationship
between written and filmed creative work is ideally conducted by engaging with practice
and practitioners. My thesis is therefore comprised of dual written and filmed
components.


Background: Drug-induced cytochrome P450 (CYP) activity affects endocrine function and drug clearance rates, leading to the development of unpredictable pathologic and toxicologic risks. Methods: Urinary steroid profiling based on gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC-MS) was used for simultaneous quantification of CYP-mediated regioselective hydroxysteroids and their substrates, including 26 androgens, 9 estrogens, 5 progestins, and 7 corticoids. The quantitative data were visualized using a hierarchically clustered heat map to allow identification of CYP-mediated steroid signatures. Twelve healthy subjects were orally administered 600 mg of rifampicin a day for 7 days, and their CYP enzyme activity was evaluated. Results: Using GC-MS, all 47 steroids were well separated with good peak shapes. This assay had good linearity (r2 > 0.994) in a dynamic range, and the interassay imprecision (% CV) and inaccuracy (% bias) were 3.0%–15.6% and 98.0%–109.2%, respectively. Administration of the CYP3A4 inducer rifampicin produced distinct differences in CYP3A4 and CYP11B1, CYP19A1, HSD11B, and HSD17B, which were indicated by their heat map–visualized steroid signatures. Conclusions: This CYP-mediated steroid signature profile allows simultaneous assessment of CYP1A, CYP1B, CYP2C, CYP3A, CYP11B, CYP17A, CYP19A, and CYP21A in urine samples. This method could therefore be a useful tool for assessing drug efficacy.


Graph algorithms with large, sparse inputs oftentimes perform poorly on cache-based platforms. For parallel spanning forest and minimum spanning forest computations, we propose three locality optimizations, Update, Stages, and PSM, that improve the cache performance. Update exploits the "graft-and-shortcut" pattern of the base algorithms. PSM transforms irregular accesses into regular ones. Stages is a meta approach based on evolution random graph theory that we use to combine Update and Stages. On the target platform, our combined optimization achieves up to 19 times speedups over the base algorithms.


Abstract: Victims of sexual assault are unlikely to report the crime. For many sexual offenders, then, their sexually deviant behavior remains largely unknown except for crimes that result in arrest or notification to social services. Little is known about the offender's past behavior and little will be known about the offender's future abusive behavior. It is within this context that the containment approach for managing sexual offenders becomes critical to protecting future victimization by known offenders. This paper describes the need to incorporate information learned from the postconviction polygraph examination into intense treatment and criminal justice supervision. Age of onset and frequency and variety of deviant behavior are known risk factors, probably because they reflect the extent to which deviancy is part of the offender's lifestyle. Treatment and supervision plans must incorporate this information, along with the risk presented by these offenders to very specific age and gender groups. This study of data collected on disclosures made by 180 convicted sexual offenders (most were convicted of crimes against children) during the course of four different treatment/polygraph programs found that 39% had a history of sexually assaulting adults, 31% had sexually assaulted both male and female victims, 36% had engaged in bestiality, and two‐thirds of the incest offenders had assaulted victims outside the family. Complete information is necessary for treatment providers and supervising officers to develop meaningful and relevant treatment and supervision plans, and for imminent, situational risk factors to be managed and contained.


Introduction British Association for Sexual Health and HIV (BASHH) and Australian guidelines recommend either azithromycin or doxycycline for the treatment of rectal chlamydia. We investigated treatment efficacy of two treatments for rectal chlamydial infection. Method A retrospective cohort of male and female patients diagnosed with rectal chlamydial infection between 2009 and 2015 was created at the STI services (Clinic 275) in Adelaide, Australia. Patients were included in the analysis if they were treated with azithromycin (1 g single dose) or doxycycline (100 mg twice a day for 10 days) and returned for repeat testing 14 to 180 days after treatment commenced. Log binomial models were used to estimate the relative risk (RR) of recurrent rectal chlamydia associated with the treatment with azithromycin versus doxycycline. Results Of 526 patients diagnosed with rectal chlamydial infections over the study period, 73% (n=384) were men and 27% (n=142) were women; 419 (79.7%), 93 (17.7%) and 14 (2.6%) patients were treated with doxycycline, azithromycin or other medication respectively. Of these patients, 173 (41.3%) of 419 doxycycline-treated patients and 31 (33.3%) of 93 azithromycin-treated patients were retested between 14 and 180 days after treatment commenced (p=0.16). Among these patients, the repeat rectal chlamydia test was less commonly positive in those treated with doxycycline (5.8%; 95% Confidence Interval (CI) 0.03–0.10) compared with those treated with azithromycin (19.4%; 95% CI 0.09–0.36) and (p=0.01). In the multivariate analysis, azithromycin-treated patients had a significant higher risk of a positive test in the 14 and 180 days after treatment commenced (adjusted relative risk (aRR) 2.78, 95% CI 1.10–7.05). Conclusion The findings suggest that doxycycline may be more effective than azithromycin in treating rectal chlamydial infection.


Creating artificial intelligent agents that are high-fidelity simulations of natural agents will require the engagement of behavioral scientists. However, agent programming systems that are accessible to behavioral scientists are too limited to create rich agents, and systems for creating rich agents are accessible mainly to computer scientists, not behavioral scientists. We are solving this problem by engaging behavioral scientists in the design of a programming language, and integrating reinforcement learning into the programming language. This strategy will help our language achieve adaptivity, modularity, and, most importantly, accessibility to behavioral scientists. In addition to allowing behavioral scientist to write rich agent programs, our language — AFABL (A Friendly Behavior Language) — will enable a true discipline of modular agent software engineering with broad implications for games, interactive storytelling, and social simulations.


Context: Many agencies are promoting widespread availability of automated external defibrillators (AED) in public places despite a lack of evidence for the best locations for public access defibrillation (PAD). Objective: To identify high-risk cardiac arrest locations to guide the optimal distribution of AEDs in a wide variety of communities. Design, Setting, and Patients: A prospective cohort study of adult, out-of-hospital cardiac arrests of presumed cardiac etiology within the 20 communities of the Ontario Prehospital Advanced Life Support (OPALS) study from July 1, 1995 to June 30, 2000. The property assessment roll identified the specific property type for each cardiac arrest address and the total number of sites, per location type, within the study boundary. Main Outcome Measures: Measures of the potential utility of PAD for each of 26 location categories, including the number of PAD programs needed to treat one cardiac arrest, and the potential PAD use per site in years. Results: Overall, 7,667 (99.5%) of 7707 cardiac arrests had valid address information. Private residences comprised 85% of the arrest locations and the remaining 15% were public locations. Potential PAD venues include (location-specific cardiac arrest rates per site, the number of PAD programs needed to treat one cardiac arrest during a five-year period and the potential PAD use per site in years): casinos (14, 0.07, 0.4); non-acute hospitals (1, 1, 5); nursing/retirement homes (1, 1, 5); penal institutions (0.3, 4, 18); indoor shopping malls (0.2, 5, 26); and hotels (0.1, 9, 46). All other remaining locations had poor utility scores. Conclusions: Most cardiac arrests occur in private residences. It appears that only a few locations may be amenable to efficient placement of PAD. All communities considering public placement of AEDs should identify high-risk sites to guide the rational deployment of


A
fast (~5 min), time-resolved fluorescence resonance energy transfer based
immunoassay (Procise FCP™) was developed for the point-of-care
quantitative detection of fecal calprotectin (FCP) using 15 mg of fecal
specimen eluted in collection fluid from the Procise Stool Collection Device™. Studies were performed to characterize
analytical performance of the Procise FCP assay on the ProciseDx™ analyzer.

The
Procise FCP assay showed good analytical performance with respect to
sensitivity, specificity, linearity, and precision suitable for routine
clinical use in a point-of-care setting as well as excellent analytical
agreement with a current commercial FCP measurement method.

Results
indicate that the Procise FCP assay is sensitive, specific, and precise
yielding results in less than 5 minutes. This indicates the Procise FCP assay is
useful for obtaining fast and accurate FCP quantitation, thus avoiding delays
inherent to current methods and enabling immediate clinical assessment to be
made during a single patient visit.


We used a Lagrangian model (FLEXPART) together with the 1979–2012 ERA-Interim reanalysis data to investigate the role of the moisture in the Amazon Basin in the regional hydrological budget over the course of the year. FLEXPART computes budgets of evaporation minus precipitation by calculating changes in the specific humidity along forward and backward trajectories. The tropical Atlantic is the most important remote moisture source for the Amazon Basin. The tropical North Atlantic (NA) mainly contributed during the austral summer, while the contribution of the tropical South Atlantic (SA) prevailed for the remainder of the year. At the same time, the moisture contribution from the Amazon Basin itself is mainly for moisture supplying the southeastern South America. The 33-year temporal domain allowed the investigation of some aspects of the interannual variability of the moisture transport over the basin, such as the role of the El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and the Atlantic Meridional Mode (AMM) on the hydrological budget. During the peak of the Amazonian rainy season (from February to May, FMAM) the AMM is associated more with the interannual variations in the contribution from the tropical Atlantic sources, while the transport from the basin towards the subtropics responds more to the ENSO variability. The moisture contribution prevailed from the SA (NA) region in the years dominated by El Nino/positive AMM (La Nina/negative AMM) conditions. The transport from the Amazon towards the subtropics increased (reduced) during El Nino (La Nina) years.


The polytetrafluoroethylene/aluminum (PTFE/Al) reactive material is one of the new energetic structural material containing good structural strength and high energy density. However, limited by traditional preparation methods, it is difficult to get uniform microstructure, while the presence of agglomeration which decreased the contact area between oxidizer and fuel would limit the reaction efficiency. In the paper, we prepared two kinds of Al particles with different particle size, and demonstrated two fabricated methods to adjust the distribution of phase, thus achieving the goal to control the reaction rate and extent of reaction. Thermal characteristics, reaction heat, specific volume of explosive, and reaction processes under high speed impact were measured to evaluate the effect of phase distribution on reactive characteristics of PTFE/Al reactive material. In comparison with the material fabricated from traditional method, the material containing uniform distribution of phase exhibited a higher reaction efficiency, bigger explosive specific volume, and longer duration of the reaction under impact.


The Southern Wide-field Gamma-ray Observatory (SWGO) Collaboration is currently engaged in design and prototyping work towards the realisation of this future gamma-ray facility. SWGO will complement CTA and the existing ground-particle based-detectors of the Northern Hemisphere (HAWC and LHAASO) with a very wide field and high duty cycle view of the southern sky. Here I summarise the status of the project and plans for the future, including expectations for sensitivity and science targets as well as the status of the site search and technological developments.


Some speech acts about science can result in many non-experts in a political community holding false or inaccurate empirical beliefs. But if people do hold false or inaccurate empirical beliefs, should we be concerned? If so, why should we be concerned? What's wrong, morally and politically speaking, with speech acts that misrepresent scientific testimony, or that otherwise count as misinformation about science?

Philosophers of science have largely neglected these questions, despite such questions often being tied to 'dissent' about science. Instead, they have almost exclusively focused on the epistemological implications and benefits of dissent for knowledge production and scientific progress. Even those philosophers of science who in recent years have displayed scepticism towards dissent have focused their arguments on its negative epistemic effects within, and on, the scientific community and science itself.

Instead, the aim of this thesis is to provide a better understanding of the nature of the nonepistemic consequences of dissent and the broader phenomenon of misinformation about science for non-experts and for society more broadly. To achieve this, I bring contemporary analytic social and political philosophy into conversation with current debates about problematic speech acts about science within philosophy of science.

I argue that some speech acts about science, including dissent, can interfere with and erode three core liberal democratic values: it can compromise personal autonomy; it can pre-emptively silence people, and thus constrain their freedom of speech; and it can undermine the democratic legitimacy of public policy. Moreover, I argue that these three consequences are interlinked.

I conclude my thesis with an argument for maintaining a focus on communicative ethics, and by offering a basic framework for reasoning through the highly context dependent evaluations of, and judgments that need to be made about, scientific dissent within different parts of the public knowledge system.


The Connecticut tax structure contains glaring defects, especially in the corporate income tax, which have allowed it to hemorrhage to a point where, for some of the largest corporations in the state, it is essentially a voluntary tax. The corporate income tax must be revitalized in order to reduce the massive losses that have resulted from both an aged tax infrastructure and the Legislature's failure to equip the Department of Revenue Services with a statutory regime to slow the erosion of the tax base.

This Report discusses how and why Connecticut's rickety tax structure is resulting in a loss of tax revenue by breaking the issue down into 5 sections. The Report first discusses the major defects with the corporate tax including a lack of combined reporting, the single-factor apportionment formula for manufacturing, and the failure to utilize a throwback rule. These weaknesses allow many of the largest corporations to pay an unfathomably low amount of tax. The Report then looks at the erosion of the sales tax base that has occurred as a result of internet and mail order sales, combined with the Connecticut Legislature's passive stance. This had resulted, according to one report, in a revenue loss of $230 million to the state in 2003.

Part Three examines and exposes the $4 billion of invisible backdoor spending that occurs through the tax system called tax expenditures, which although is detailed in a tax expenditure budget, is not integrated into the explicit spending budget or taken into account by the Legislature.

Part Four argues that research shows cutting taxes is not the most effective way to increase economic growth.

Lastly, this Report discusses whether there should be public, firm-specific disclosure of what each corporation pays in income tax, and concludes that this kind of transparency would bring accountability to the state system.


SUMMARY : Cardiovascular profile of Ruellia patula and Ruellia Brittoniana was carried on isolated rabbit heart. Crude extract, butanolic and aqueous layer of both plants were tested on heart rate, force of contraction and coronary flow. Digoxin was used as a controlled drug. All the fractions showed an increase in force of contraction expect n-butanolic fraction of R. brittoniana which exhibited depression in all parameters. Coronary flow and heart rate displayed non significant decrease. Therefore it was concluded that the given Ruellia plants are of cardiotonic nature.


There is a growing community of international relations (IR) scholars who argue for the importance of investigating Global South approaches to IR scholarship, making room for theories and concepts that challenge the discipline's Eurocentricity, and debating the merits and pitfalls of globalizing IR by including perspectives from various Global South locations. In addition to acknowledging this existing critical scholarship that aims at resisting mainstream epistemologies and methodologies of knowing and doing IR, this article's central contribution is to probe the epistemic hegemony and knowledge-production hierarchies that are emerging from within the Global South. The article does not seek to uncover the truth about the representation of Global South actors by Global South IR communities. Instead, it is interested in demonstrating how epistemic hegemony and knowledge-production hierarchies do not exist only in relationships of exclusion and Othering but also in relations of inclusion and Selving. We illustrate our argument with an analysis of the representations of "Africa" in China-based IR intellectual communities. We find that Chinese discourses on solidarity, friendship, community, and shared history lead to a narrative of sameness and Selving whereby Chinese postcolonial experiences are taken to be expandable and applicable to other developing states, making Chinese perspectives seem representative of others, thereby silencing and representing African voices at once.


The main objectives of this project are to try to make the use of a computer as natural as possible. A step towards achieving this is to develop a system that tags text and provides the user with an opportunity to correct tags and eliminate ambiguity of tags. From the data we now compute train data to be used on a Hidden Markov Model based tagger. We also compute word models and word frequencies that are used when improving the efficiency of the system. Venda text is applied to the system and this implies that we pay special attention to the unique diacritic of Venda.


BACKGROUND. Basosquamous carcinoma (BSC) is a rare cutaneous tumor that has been poorly described in the dermatologic literature. It has been depicted as an aggressive tumor with a high incidence of distant metastasis. OBJECTIVE. To examine the average extent of local tissue invasion and presence of distant metastases in cases of BSC compared with those of basal cell carcinoma (BCC) and squamous cell carcinoma (SCC). METHODS. One thousand consecutive Mohs surgery cases performed between January 1993 and May 1995 at the Oschner Clinic in New Orleans, Louisiana, for histologically confirmed BCC, SCC, and BSC were reviewed. Each case was retrospectively evaluated for tumor type, anatomic location, number of Mohs stages performed, and presence of metastases at the time of surgery, as determined by chest radiograph. RESULTS. Seven hundred forty-five BCCs, 228 SCCs, and 27 BSCs (1,000 tumors total) were treated in 580 patients. The average number of stages required for clear margins in cases of BCC, SCC, and BSC was 1.62, 1.51, and 2.00, respectively. The prevalence of metastasis was 0.87% for SCC and 7.4% for BSC, which was statistically significant (P<0.001). CONCLUSION. In this retrospective study, BSCs displayed tissue invasion similar to that of BCC or SCC but had a higher frequency of pulmonary metastasis than SCC.


The key of transformer protection is to distinguish magnetic inrush from fault current.Effective simulations for magnetic inrush and fault current of transformer are the foundation of right division.In this paper,based on the study on the model of electrical transformer in EMTDC(Electro-Magnetic Transient in DC System),the simulations for magnetic inrush and fault current of three-phase transformer are done.And analysis are given to the simulation.The results show that EMTDC can effectively simulate the magnetic inrush and fault current of transformers under different conditions.


The purpose of this article is to present the evidence concerning the impact of cooperative and competitive learning as well as constructive controversy on the development of professional ethics by law students. In addition, cooperative learning and constructive controversy increase student achievement, build better relationships among students, and improve student psychological health. The theory underlying these practices and the research documenting their effectiveness will be covered. Finally, the problems with using competitive learning in both prelaw and law school classes are discussed.


Determining causes of deaths (COD) occurred outside of civil registration and vital statistics systems is challenging. A technique called verbal autopsy (VA) is widely adopted to gather information on deaths in practice. A VA consists of interviewing relatives of a deceased person about symptoms of the deceased in the period leading to the death, often resulting in multivariate binary responses. While statistical methods have been devised for estimating the cause-specific mortality fractions (CSMFs) for a study population, continued expansion of VA to new populations (or "domains") necessitates approaches that recognize between-domain differences while capitalizing on potential similarities. In this paper, we propose such a domain-adaptive method that integrates external between-domain similarity information encoded by a pre-specified rooted weighted tree. Given a cause, we use latent class models to characterize the conditional distributions of the responses that may vary by domain. We specify a logistic stick-breaking Gaussian diffusion process prior along the tree for class mixing weights with node-specific spike-and-slab priors to pool information between the domains in a data-driven way. Posterior inference is conducted via a scalable variational Bayes algorithm. Simulation studies show that the domain adaptation enabled by the proposed method improves CSMF estimation and individual COD assignment. We also illustrate and evaluate the method using a validation data set. The paper concludes with a discussion on limitations and future directions.


A report on a conference organised jointly by the Institute of Policy Studies, Wellington, the Asian Pacific Tax and Investment Centre, Singapore, and the Australian Tax Research Foundation, Sydney. The purpose was to study judicial and legislative anti-avoidance measures and treaty policies in the Asian Pacific region.


The site selection group for the future Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) has deployed sensitive light sensors at 9 candidate sites, 5 of them in the Southern and 4 in the Northern hemisphere. The sensors are equipped with a PIN diode and a calibrated V-filter, and a blue/UV filter matching the spectral response of the photomultipliers to be employed in the CTA cameras. All sensor installations, denominated "Atmoscopes", have been cross-calibrated before deployment, and their sensitivity is monitored every two to five months. We show that a thoroughly developed model of the integral contribution of starlight to the overall light measure serves as an additional cross-calibration for each device during each night, reducing the systematic uncertainty of this measurement to less than 15%. The starlight can then be subtracted from the measurements, and the residuals compared among the different sites. We show that in most cases a decomposition into the contributions from zodiacal light, airglow and anthropogenic light pollution is possible.


Importance
Management of transient ischemic attack (TIA) has gained significant attention during the past 25 years after several landmark studies indicated the high incidence of a subsequent stroke.

Objective
To calculate the pooled event rate of subsequent ischemic stroke within 2, 7, 30, and 90 days of a TIA and compare this incidence among the population with TIA recruited before 1999 (group A), from 1999 to 2007 (group B), and after 2007 (group C).

Data Sources
All published studies of TIA outcomes were obtained by searching PubMed from 1996, to the last update on January 31, 2020, irrespective of the study design, document type, or language.

Study Selection
Of 11 516 identified citations, 175 articles were relevant to this review. Both the classic time-based definition of TIA and the new tissue-based definition were accepted. Studies with a combined record of patients with TIA and ischemic stroke, without clinical evaluation for the index TIA, with diagnosis of index TIA event after ischemic stroke occurrence, with low suspicion for TIA, or duplicate reports of the same database were excluded.

Data Extraction and Synthesis
The study was conducted and reported according to the PRISMA, MOOSE, and EQUATOR guidelines. Critical appraisal and methodological quality assessment used the Quality in Prognosis Studies tool. Publication bias was visualized by funnel plots and measured by the Begg-Mazumdar rank correlation Kendall τ2 statistic and Egger bias test. Data were pooled using double arcsine transformations, DerSimonian-Laird estimator, and random-effects models.

Main Outcomes and Measures
The proportion of the early ischemic stroke after TIA within 4 evaluation intervals (2, 7, 30, and 90 days) was considered as effect size.

Results
Systematic review yielded 68 unique studies with 223 866 unique patients from 1971 to 2019. The meta-analysis included 206 455 patients (58% women) during a span of 4 decades. The overall subsequent ischemic stroke incidence rates were estimated as 2.4% (95% CI, 1.8%-3.2%) within 2 days, 3.8% (95% CI, 2.5%-5.4%) within 7 days, 4.1% (95% CI, 2.4%-6.3%) within 30 days, and 4.7% (95% CI, 3.3%-6.4%) within 90 days. There was a significant risk reduction of 3.4% among group A in comparison with 2.1% in group B or 2.1% in group C within 2 days; 5.5% in group A vs 3.2% in group B or 2.9% in group C within 7 days; 6.3% in group A vs 3.4% in group B or 2.9% in group C within 30 days, and 7.4% in group A vs 3.9% in group B or 3.9% in group C within 90 days.

Conclusions and Relevance
These findings suggest that TIA continues to be associated with a high risk of early stroke; however, the rate of post-TIA stroke might have decreased slightly during the past 2 decades.


User behaviors in social networks are microscopic with fine grained temporal information. Predicting a macroscopic quantity based on users' collective behaviors is an important problem. However, existing works are mainly problem-specific models for the microscopic behaviors and typically design approximations or heuristic algorithms to compute the macroscopic quantity. In this paper, we propose a unifying framework with a jump stochastic differential equation model that systematically links the microscopic event data and macroscopic inference, and the theory to approximate its probability distribution. We showed that our method can better predict the user behaviors in real-world applications.


This article describes the rate of falls and adverse outcomes following falls, such as fracture, hospitalisation and death, among residents of 88 aged-care facilities in the Lower Hunter region of NSW from July to December 2005. A high rate of falls was observed with a crude incidence of 171 falls per 1000 beds per month. Around 40% of the falls resulting in hospitalisation were for fractured neck of femur. Estimated 3-month survival following fractured neck of femur was low, with a rate ratio of around 1 : 3. The data indicate an urgent need for falls injury prevention in aged-care facilities.


Value at Risk is a convenient and popular risk measurement tool. It represents the maximum potential loss on a specific portfolio of financial assets given a specific time horizon and a confidence interval. Principally Value at Risk is used in finance for risk management, financial reporting and capital requirement. In real estate, the calculation of this risk measurement is still rare even if it is now common to compute and disclose it in numerous other fields of finance. In particular, this calculation is even rarer in the case of direct real estate. In this paper we review the major issues face by real estate academics and practitioners to determine the Value at Risk of real estate investments. We propose a new methodology that we believe is more accurate and more relevant to compute Value at Risk of real estate portfolio. This model allows taking into consideration the specificities of a real estate portfolio such as the type of properties, the lease structures, the obsolescence or the possibility of vacancy. We analyze to what extend our proposed model allows a better Value at Risk assessment. To do so, we introduce the components of our model step by step, foremost by proposing the use of bootstrapping method, then by introducing the lease structure, then the possibilities of vacancies and finally the obsolescence of the properties. Lastly we propose a way to link all these characteristics in order to compute a relevant Value-at-Risk. After a brief review of literature on Value at Risk especially related to real estate, the paper describes the main methods used to compute Value at Risk. We then introduce a new model to compute Value at Risk of real estate investment. We test and compare the proposed model against the historical one. We conclude with a sensitivity analysis.


The reproductive characteristics of mahseer, Tor. tambroides, were studied in Manna River and Batang Tarusan River, which are located on each side of Western Sumatera River. The reproductive period of T. tambroides is largely consistent with that described for the species in other areas, however monthly variations in the extent and timing of peak spawning are recorded. The analysis of the sex ratio indicates an increase in the percentage of females with size, more marked in largest sizes. Seasonal patterns in the occurrences of spawning showed that the spawning season in Manna River lasted was similar with that in Batang Tarusan River, although a second prominent increase of GSI was observed in April and September in Manna River, meanwhile the GSI of Batang Tarusan River fish were below 2 without an apparent variation. L50s of Manna River and Batang Tarusan River mahseer were estimated as 24.5 cm and 20.66 cm, respectively, indicating a high variability in size at first maturity of the mahseer population. Our study provides some important information on the reproductive biology of T. tambroides that will be helpful in similar studies and contributed to fisheries management of this species.


Interventions led by non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are often more effective than comparable efforts by other actors, yet relatively little is known about how implementer identity drives final outcomes. Combining a stratified field experiment in India with a triple-differences estimation strategy, we show that a local development NGO's prior engagement with target communities increases the effectiveness of a technology-promotion intervention implemented by it by at least 30 percent. This "NGO effect" has implications for the generalizability and scalability of evidence from experimental research conducted with local implementation partners. JEL-Code: L31, C93, O12, O17


The improved LDPC code decoding algorithm mainly refereed to improving decoding performance or reducing the decoding computation complexity. No matter hard decision or soft decision LDPC code decoding algorithm, we can get all ring number by one test, instead of testing each long ring number, after optimizing ring detection algorithm. We putted forward the application of Gaussian Markov Random Field model to realize the source parameter estimation, and make logarithmic likelihood ratio correction of bit sequence received by the channel decoding end. Joining source residual redundancy information to increase the decoder error correction ability. Source estimation adaptive variable can correct coefficient, and it was regulated by error rate. Under the condition that computational complexity increasedlittlely, the LDPC code decoding algorithm based on MRF effectively improved the decoding performance and implemented the improvement of LDPC code decoding algorithm .In the end, we realized the decoding algorithm by using FPGA.


In international business research, a growing number of studies are investigating the internationalisation of top managers and its consequences for firm-level outcomes. However, relatively little attention has been devoted so far to the antecedents of top manager internationalisation and to top manager internationalisation in different institutional contexts. The present study compares the internationalisation of top managers in Germany and the UK and argues that national institutional contexts influence the international profile of top managers' human capital. Based on a sample of 931 individuals, we demonstrate that top managers' nationality, international work experience and international board appointments vary significantly between Germany and the UK. Our paper has implications for international business research and upper echelons research because it contributes to a better understanding of the antecedents of top manager internationalisation in different institutional contexts.


Across Alberta there are found many diner style restaurants serving both Chinese and Western Canadian meals to people in the small-towns they inhabit. It's a culturally significant and interesting aspect of Albertan identity. This research paper describes a journey to photograph and document these spaces and try to contextualize them within the context of Albertan identity. It details the research the author did to richer understanding of these spaces and their part in what it means to be Albertan. Included in this is a discussion on the significance of food and, in particular, the Chinese-Western dishes such as ginger beef, to communal identity. This paper details how the research influenced my own journey across Alberta and how it translated into a fully realized photo-documentary project that led the author to a greater understanding of what it means to be Albertan.


This paper investigates the management strategies and responses used by New Zealand sheep and beef farmers to ensure resilience during periods of hardship. Using two, farm level surveys conducted in 1986 and 2010, some aspects of resilient farming systems were identified. Despite apparent hardship current farmers seemed more willing to take risks, with many more borrowing to invest in on farm developments than those in 1986. The main similarity between time periods was the greatest response to economic changes being the adoption of a low input policy. This result was quite significant, as conventional farmers are generally believed to resort to other strategies or responses.


The White Paper on European governance is a disappointment as it reflects a rather technocratic attitude. It suggests networking and partnership models of integration. These may help in rationalising policy-making and implementation but do not contribute much to close the legitimacy gap. The governance path is problematic as it basically comes down to steering or efficient problem-solving. Without spelling out the proper standards of democracy – i.e., accountability and congruence criteria – there can be no adequate way to handle the problems. Given the lessons from the ongoing post-Nice debate, it is, indeed, surprising that this is lacking in the White Paper.


This paper shows that the consumption‐based capital asset pricing model (C‐CAPM) with low‐probability disaster risk rationalizes pricing errors. We find that implausible estimates of risk aversion and time preference are not puzzling if market participants expect a future catastrophic change in fundamentals, which just happens not to occur in the sample (a "peso problem"). A bias in structural parameter estimates emerges as a result of pricing errors in quiet times. While the bias essentially removes the pricing error in the simple models when risk‐free rates are constant, time‐variation may also generate large and persistent
 estimated pricing errors in simulated data. We also show analytically how the problem of biased estimates can be avoided in empirical research by resolving the misspecification in moment conditions.


In recent years there have been increased efforts to make supply chains transparent and traceable to better protect the end consumer's interests against counterfeiting, contamination, false claims, and inadequate processes. The actors in the supply chain can also leverage additional visibility to proactively tune their operations in response to upstream or downstream disruptions. Blockchain technology, with its promise of immutability, transparency, and provenance is a natural fit to supply chain problems. Several works have discussed the improved design of supply chains leveraging blockchain technology. There have been attempts to address some of the privacy concerns of participants on the blockchain network by using encryption schemes to hide confidential data and group signatures to hide the participant identities. But these do not handle the complexities of the supply chain, where items are constantly packaged, repackaged, and transformed before reaching the end consumer. Our work presents a blockchain-based model for the supply chain that provides privacy and traceability with efficient contamination tracing while accounting for the aforementioned complexities of the supply chain operations. The last property enables an end consumer to be convinced about a product to be unaffected by identified faulty upstream processes (contamination) without access to the entire history of the product. Our solution makes novel use of cryptographic tools such as zero-knowledge proofs and cryptographic accumulators to provide these guarantees. The choice of the cryptographic components is grounded in concrete efficiency, and we present an experimental evaluation of the implementation of our protocol on Hyperledger Fabric, a popular platform for enterprise blockchains.


'Radical Spaces' explores the Resistance Bookshops and their place within the culture of protest and radical politics in New Zealand between 1969 and 1977. The bookshops, which were set up by activists in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch aimed to raise consciousness about political issues by selling political and countercultural texts which had limited availability in New Zealand. These 'radical spaces' of the 1970s are closely examined, looking at specific political campaigns, the interconnections between the groups and individuals involved, and the role that the Resistance Bookshops played in supporting the radical political momentum that flourished in New Zealand from the late 1960s until the mid-1970s. For the Resistance Bookshops, distributing texts was part of the political process, it was recognised that there was power in ideas and print was a leading medium for which to circulate them. This thesis examines the role of print as a key part in political mobilisation. All radical political groups whether 'Old Left', 'New Left', feminist or anarchist used print to educate, communicate and persuade people to participate in street politics and the wider radical culture that was emerging in New Zealand during this period. The Resistance Bookshops provided a bridge between political groups and the printed material that helped shape the ideas behind individual campaigns. These spaces were instrumental in the dissemination of radical ideas and are important expressions of a 'movement' which placed prime importance on education as a political tool.


The present note represents a new record of the live sharksucker, Echeneis naucrates, in the Mediterranean Sea, after the last report of this species which dates back to 2016. The E. naucrates specimen has been seen during a scuba dive in an area located along the Ionian coast of Sicily (Italy). The specimen probably was in search of a host and it tried repeatedly to attach himself to the divers. Therefore, this is the first Mediterranean record in which the interaction of this species in its natural habitat has been observed, since, in the previous reports, the specimens had always been caught by nets. Finally, this note reports for the second time in the Mediterranean Sea, the presence of this oceanic species in an area with brackish waters.


In the treatment of disorders, bio-electrodes are used to be implanted into the patients' deep brain for long-term stimulation. This paper presents a custom design and flexible fabrication process of bio-electrode for treating neural disorders using rapid prototyping (RP) technique. A 3D model of the bio-electrode is designed and the photosensitive resin electrode prototype is fabricated on the laser rapid prototyping machine, and then the bio-electrode is fabricated using this electrode prototype and the silicon rubber mold and winding technique. The spatial distribution of the electric field fabricated of the bio-electrode is analyzed, and the optical photomicrograph reveals that the cylindrical surfaces of the polyurethane of the bio-electrode have smooth surface and no visible microcracks, and the spiral lines are arranged densely and have no defects of loose and falling and partly protruding. The electrochemical experiments show that the electrochemical process of the bio-electrode is reversible and the bio-electrode has good functionality and stability property.


Nowadays, digital information is very easy to process, but it allows unauthorized users to access to this information. To protect this information from unauthorized access, cryptography is one of the most powerful and commonly used techniques. There are various cryptographic algorithms out of which advanced encryption standard (AES) is one of the most frequently used symmetric key cryptographic algorithms. The main objective of this chapter is to implement fast, secure, and area-efficient AES algorithm on a reconfigurable platform. In this chapter, AES algorithm is designed using Xilinx system generator, implemented on Nexys-4 DDR FPGA development board and simulated using MATLAB Simulink. Synthesis results show that the implementation consumes 121 slice registers, and its maximum operating frequency is 1102.536 MHz. Throughput achieved by this implementation is 14.1125 Gbps.


Video has become a dominant form of media. However, video editing interfaces have remained largely unchanged over the past two decades. Such interfaces typically consist of a grid-like asset management panel and a linear editing timeline. When working with a large number of video clips, it can be difficult to sort through them all and identify patterns within (e.g. opportunities for smooth transitions and storytelling). In this work, we imagine a new paradigm for video editing by mapping videos into a 2D latent space and building a proof-of-concept interface.


The study investigated the basic geomechanical and mineralogical evolution of the bentonite barrier under various experimental boundary conditions which replicated the near-field Thermo-Hydro-Chemico (THC) conditions in a repository. The relationships between the physicochemical alterations and changes in the geotechnical properties have seldom been studied, especially on a consistent dataset. This paper attempts to link the physicochemical properties of Na-bentonite (MX-80) to the macro-scale engineering functionality of the bentonite post THC exposure. Experiments investigated the impact of THC variables on the engineering and physicochemical functionality of the bentonite with respect to its application within a High-Level Waste (HLW) engineered barrier system. Intrinsic alterations to the MX-80 bentonite under relatively short-term exposure to hydrothermal and chemical conditions were measured. Additionally, two long-term tests were conducted under ambient conditions to consider the impact of exposure duration. The intrinsic measurements were then related to the overall performance of the bentonite as a candidate barrier material for application in a UK geological disposal facility. Findings indicate that exposure to thermo-saline-corrosion conditions (i.e., corrosion products derived from structural grade 275 carbon steel) inhibits the free swell capacity and plasticity of the bentonite. However, the measured values remained above the design limits set out for the Swedish multi-barrier concept, from which the UK concept may take a lead. Corrosion alone does not appear to significantly affect the geotechnical measurements compared with the influence of thermal loading and high saline pore water after relatively short-term exposure. Thermal and corrosion exposure displayed no impact on the intrinsic swelling of the smectite component, indicating that no significant structural alteration had occurred. However, when exploring more complex saline solutions i.e., mixed Na, K and Ca, rather than the reference NaCl, divalent cation replacement was observed within the interlayer exchange site. This was accelerated in higher thermal loading conditions.


The integration and coupling that result from networking, database systems, and real-time applications are serving to increase concern about security and control in modem computing environments. The establishment and effective monitoring of controls in such settings is essential to guarantee data integrity and to prevent undesired intrusion. It is proposed that the monitoring of system controls is essentially an information-processing activity and that the relational model is a useful formalization of information gathered from central monitoring. Moreover, we posit that the universal data view facilitates auditor analysis without imposing the requirement that he or she have explicit knowledge of the structure of the relational database of monitoring information.


Background Despite being recognized as a fundamental part of the educational process and emphasized for several decades in medical education, the influence of the feedback process is still suboptimal. This may not be surprising, because the focus is primarily centered on only one half of the process - the teachers. The learners are the targets of the feedback process and improvement needs to be shifted. Learners need to be empowered with the skills needed to receive and utilize feedback and compensate for less than ideal feedback delivery due to the busy clinical environment. Methods Based on the available feedback literature and clinical experience regarding feedback, the author developed 10 tips to empower learners with the necessary skills to seek, receive, and handle feedback effectively, regardless of how it is delivered. Although, most of the tips are directed at the individual clinical trainee, this model can be utilized by clinical educators involved in learner development and serve as a framework for educational workshops or curriculum. Results Ten practical tips are identified that specifically address the learner's role in the feedback process. These tips not only help the learner to ask, receive, and handle the feedback, but will also ease the process for the teachers. Collectively, these tips help to overcome most, if not all, of the barriers to feedback and bridge the gaps in busy clinical practices. Conclusions Feedback is a crucial element in the educational process and it is shown that we are still behind in the optimal use of it; thus, learners need to be taught how to better receive and utilize feedback. The focus in medical education needs to balance the two sides of the feedback process. It is time now to invest on the learner's development of skills that can be utilized in a busy day-to-day clinical practice.


Neutron star mergers (NSMs) are promising astrophysical sites for the rapid neutron-capture ("r") process, but can their integrated yields explain the majority of heavy-element material in the Galaxy? One method to address this question implements a forward approach that propagates NSM rates and yields along with stellar formation rates and compares those results with observed chemical abundances of r-process-rich, metal-poor stars. In this work, we take the inverse approach by utilizing r-process-element abundance ratios of metal-poor stars as input to reconstruct the properties—especially the masses—of their neutron star (NS) binary progenitors. This novel analysis provides an independent avenue for studying the population of the original NS binary systems that merged and produced the r-process material now incorporated in Galactic metal-poor halo stars. We use ratios of elements typically associated with the limited-r-process and the actinide region to those in the lanthanide region (i.e., Zr/Dy and Th/Dy) to probe the NS masses of the progenitor merger. We find that NSMs can account for all r-process material in metal-poor stars that display r-process signatures, while simultaneously reproducing the present-day distribution of double-NS systems. Notably, with our model assumptions and the studied stellar sample, we postulate that the most r-process enhanced stars (the r–II stars) on their own would require progenitor NSMs of asymmetric systems that are distinctly different from present ones in the Galaxy. We also explore variations to the model and find that the predicted degree of asymmetry is most sensitive to the electron fraction of the remnant disk wind.


OBJECTIVES
To analyse the prevalence of malnutrition in candidates for lung transplantation and to establish if there are any differences in the prevalence of malnutrition among the different groups of patients regarding their illness.

METHODS
We reviewed the nutritional evaluation of 163 consecutive transplant candidates referred to our hospital (1996-2001). The nutritional assessment included: clinical history, anthropometric measurements, bioelectrical impedance analysis, and biochemical measurements. The nutritional status diagnosis was determined following RWS Chang protocol.

RESULTS
163 patients (108 male/55 female; 42.9 +/- 14.7 yr.) agrupped into four main lung diseases groups: obstructive (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease): 60 (36.8%); interstitial (idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis): 45 (27.6%); septic (cystic fibrosis and bronchiectasis): 47 (28.8%); and vascular (primary pulmonary hypertension and miscellaneous etiology): 11 (6.7%). The prevalence of malnutrition is 60.9% (IC 95%; 53.4-68.4) and the most prevalent type is moderate caloric malnutrition (23.3%). Percentage of triceps skinfold thickness was lower in the septic group (65.1 +/- 43.0) than in the obstructive (94.8 +/- 53.9; p < 0.05) or in the interstitial one (130.3 +/- 61.5; p < 0.0001). Interstitial group had also the higher weight, BMI and percentage of ideal weight. Percentage of arm muscle circumference was only different between interstitial and septic groups (105.5 +/- 18.3 vs 95.9 +/- 11.1; p < 0.01). Resting energy expenditure was lower in septic patients. This group had lower levels of prealbumin than obstructive (17.6 +/- 4.7 vs 24.4 +/- 4.8 mg/dl; p < 0.0001) or interstitial groups (17.6 +/- 4.7 vs 27.3 +/- 7.7 mg/dl; p < 0.0001).

CONCLUSIONS
Malnutrition in patients awaiting lung transplantation is highly prevalent, specially in septic and vascular lung diseases. Anthropometric measurements are a good and easy option to explore this problem. Nutritional rehabilitation of these patients could improve their postoperative course.


Background and aims Risk of stroke and dementia is markedly higher in people of South Asian and African Caribbean descent than white Europeans in the UK. This is unexplained by cardiovascular risk factors (CVRF). We hypothesized this might indicate accelerated early vascular aging (EVA) and that EVA might account for stronger associations between cerebral large artery characteristics and markers of small vessel disease. Methods 360 participants in a tri-ethnic population-based study (120 per ethnic group) underwent cerebral and vertebral MRI. Length and median diameter of the basilar artery (BA) were derived from Time of Flight images, while white matter hyperintensities (WMH) volumes were obtained from T1 and FLAIR images. Associations between BA characteristics and CVRF were assessed using multivariable linear regression. Partial correlation coefficients between WMH load and BA characteristics were calculated after adjustment for CVRF and other potential confounders. Results BA diameter was strongly associated with age in South Asians (+11.3 μm/year 95% CI = [3.05; 19.62]; p = 0.008), with unconvincing relationships in African Caribbeans (3.4 μm/year [−5.26, 12.12]; p = 0.436) or Europeans (2.6 μm/year [−5.75, 10.87]; p = 0.543). BA length was associated with age in South Asians (+0.34 mm/year [0.02; 0.65]; p = 0.037) and African Caribbeans (+0.39 mm/year [0.12; 0.65]; p = 0.005) but not Europeans (+0.08 mm/year [−0.26; 0.41]; p = 0.653). BA diameter (rho = 0.210; p = 0.022) and length (rho = 0.261; p = 0.004) were associated with frontal WMH load in South Asians (persisting after multivariable adjustment for CVRF). Conclusions Compared with Europeans, the basilar artery undergoes more accelerated EVA in South Asians and in African Caribbeans, albeit to a lesser extent. Such EVA may contribute to the higher burden of CSVD observed in South Asians and excess risk of stroke, vascular cognitive impairment and dementia observed in these ethnic groups.


The problem of substrate voltage bounce is discussed for NMOS LSI random logic designs which operate from self-biased substrates. Using chip capacitance and switching noise probability models, the impact of voltage bounce on threshold voltage variation (V/SUB T/-sigma) is illustrated and a comparison is made with designs operating from externally biased substrates. To achieve the potential performance improvement made possible through the use of substrate generators, off-chip capacitors are recommended to improve V/SUB T/-sigma control.


Linear programming method used for energy conservation methods. This was used in this operation to install photovoltaic solar cell and solar panels, changing normal windows having double glazed window. It is also changing normal incandescent bulbs to fluorescent light bulbs, also changing the quality of appliances i.e. C class appliances is changed with A class window .The cost of these methods which involve replacing of low class appliance to high class appliances is taken from manufacturer website. When we are doing this then by the appropriate method which we are using we can see that replacing with double glazed window and triple glazed window and normal CFL bulbs are the effective choice for low budget. If we have good budget then there is a good option that we can install a solar panel it is a good and feasible choice. By the calculations and result showed that changing the quality of household appliances is advantageous and good on a little more budget or in terms we can say that when it is more than €20,000 should be there. Recovering period for this budget and for more than this budget is found as less and it can be a less than half a year. By this strategy we have find that for low budget as for €800 is a optimization result and for high budget which is €24000 is a good choice for optimization of energy and we can save energy on a good extent.


Soil organic matter (SOM) is an important resource base for arable farming. For policies on SOM to be effective, insight is needed on why and under which conditions farmers are willing to increase SOM content. This study used the theory of planned behaviour to analyse what prevents or encourages Dutch farmers to increase the SOM content of their fields. In an online survey, 435 arable farmers were asked questions to understand their attitude (perceived benefits), subjective norm (social pressure) and perceived behavioural control (anticipated impediments and obstacles) related to management of SOM. Farmers' answers were related to their intention to increase SOM content, use of organic materials and perceived increase in SOM content. Our results showed that Dutch farmers are well aware of the possible benefits of SOM content for crop productivity. Farmers' attitude, subjective norm and perceived decrease in SOM content were significantly related to their intention to increase SOM content. In our farm survey, this intention was very strong: 90% of the farmers stated a high or very high intention to increase the SOM content of their fields. A higher intention to increase SOM content was correlated with the use of organic materials as expressed as total and effective C (P = 0.003 and P = 0.002, respectively), but this did not lead to a perceived increase in SOM content. From a farmer's point of view, this indicates that increasing SOM content is to a large degree beyond their direct influence. The Dutch Manure and Fertiliser Act, costs of organic inputs and the need to cultivate profitable crops (such as potatoes or sugar beet) were indicated as important impeding factors for increasing SOM content.


According to conventional thinking, metabolic changes related to disease are thought to be triggered predominantly by signals from the immune cell-signaling network. However, recent evidence supports a role for metabolism as a "first responder" that can be decisive in actually forming immune responses and determining outcomes based on the metabolic potential and fitness of the responding cells. This new insight has led to the potential for reprogramming cellular metabolism to direct immune cell fate and function and thus to ultimately improve disease outcomes. In this webinar we will explain how metabolic pathways and substrates have been found to impact particular immune cell subsets and their functional roles. The application of this knowledge to better understand disease and to reveal novel therapeutic approaches will also be discussed.


Data warehouse (DW) is a powerful and useful technology for decision making in manufacturing enterprises. Because that the operational data often comes from distributed units for manufacturing enterprises, there exits an urgent need to study on the methods of integrating heterogonous data in data warehouse. In This paper, an ontology approach is proposed to eliminate data source heterogeneity. The approach is based on the exploitation of the application of domain ontology methods in data warehouse design, representing the semantic meanings of the data by ontology at database level and pushing the data as data resources to manufacturing units at data warehouse access level. The foundation of our approach is a meta-data model which consists of data, concept, ontology and resource repositories. The model is used in a shipbuilding enterprise data warehouse development project. The result shows that with the guide of the meta-data model, our ontology approach could eliminate the data heterogeneity.


In 2016, the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation(MDWS), Government of India (GoI) empanelled competent organizations and individuals to offer on-demand capacity building support and guidance on community wide approaches for sanitation to different districts and states in India. The Water Supply & Sanitation Collaborative Council (WSSCC) is an UN agency and as an empanelled organization for training works closely with the district of Saharanpur towards making it an ODF district. Constantly looking for innovative ways to influence behaviour change, WSSCC deployed new tools of stunting and menstruation to galvanize communities to make Saharanpur an open defecation free district of Uttar Pradesh. It showed startling success in the district within few months without using cash incentive to propel behaviour change. This paper outlines the new methods and tools adopted for community wide approaches, its challenges and outcomes.


Purpose
Premised on dynamic capability theory, the purpose of this paper is to explore the link between entrepreneurial orientation (EO) and operational responsiveness (OR). In addition, grounded in contingency theory, the authors examine the roles of competitive intensity and technological turbulence in affecting the entrepreneurial orientation and OR link.

Design/methodology/approach
This study proposes that firms' entrepreneurial initiatives in terms of innovativeness, proactiveness and risk-taking significantly affect their responsiveness. Competitive intensity and technological turbulence moderate the EO and OR relationship. Using hierarchical regression analysis, the authors analyze the data generated from a sample of 164 small-and-medium enterprises in the USA.

Findings
The findings show that entrepreneurial initiatives are instrumental in responding to market requirements, which in turn results in superior performance. The authors also find that the interactive effects of innovativeness/risk-taking and competitive intensity are significant and positive, while those of innovativeness/proactiveness and technological turbulence on responsiveness are significant but negative. These findings imply that OR is effective when the level of competitive intensity is high while technological turbulence is low.

Research limitations/implications
The authors conclude the paper by suggesting that entrepreneurial actions are pre-requisites for OR, which becomes effective only when the market experiences a moderate level of competition and a low level of technological change. The study provides implications for cross-functional research in the areas of entrepreneurship and operations management (OM) and also suggests future directions in this research stream.

Originality/value
Although responsiveness has been recognized as a critical competitive capability in the OM literature, its relationship with EO is not fully understood and has not been empirically tested. Moreover, the interplay between EO and competitive intensity/technological turbulence and their effects on effective OR have not been gauged in the past.


Heart failure is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in the USA and is closely associated with diabetes mellitus. The molecular link between diabetes and heart failure is incompletely understood. We recently demonstrated that insulin receptor substrate 1, 2 (IRS1, 2) are key components of insulin signaling and their dysfunction mediates insulin resistance, resulting in metabolic dysregulation and heart failure. Loss of IRS1 and IRS2 is associated with downstream Akt inactivation and in turn activation of the forkhead transcription factor Foxo1. To determine the role of Foxo1 in control of heart failure in insulin resistance and diabetes, we generated mice lacking Foxo1 gene specifically in the heart. Mice lacking both IRS1 and IRS2 in adult hearts exhibited severe heart failure, loss of mitochondria, and a remarkable increase in the β-isoform of myosin heavy chain (β-MHC) gene expression, while deletion of cardiac Foxo1 gene largely prevented the heart failure and the loss of mitochondria, and resulted in a decrease in β-MHC expression. The effect of Foxo1 deficiency on rescuing cardiac dysfunction was also observed in db/db mice and high-fat diet (HFD) mice. Using cultures of primary ventricular cardiomyocytes, we found that Foxo1 interacts with the promoter region of β-MHC and stimulates gene expression, mediating an effect of insulin that suppresses β-MHC expression. Taken together, our study suggests that Foxo1 has important roles in promoting diabetic cardiomyopathy and controls β-MHC expression in development of cardiac dysfunction. Targeting Foxo1 and its regulation will provide novel strategies in preventing metabolic and myocardial dysfunction and influencing MHC plasticity in diabetes mellitus.


We determined the egg production efficiency (EPE: egg production/ingestion) and egg viability of the copepod Acartia tonsa Dana under different heterotrophic and autotrophic diets. EPE was estimated in adult females either as the slope of the linear relationship between specific egg pro- duction (EPR) and ingestion rates, or as the quotient: EPR/ingestion rate. The diets, offered in mono- culture, were the heterotrophic ciliates Strombidium sulcatum or Mesodinium pulex, the hetero- trophic dinoflagellate Gymnodinium dominans, the autotrophic cryptophyte Rhodomonas salina and the autotrophic dinoflagellate Gymnodinium sanguineum. The diets were also analyzed for fatty acid contents and composition, relationships with EPE and reproductive success were determined. Clear differences were found in the fatty acid contents and the composition of the different diets offered, but these differences did not correspond with variability in EPE. However, egg viability was correlated with ingestion of certain prey essential fatty acids; interestingly, our data do not show that ciliates and heterotrophic dinoflagellates are nutritionally superior prey for marine copepods, contrary to general expectations.


The flow through the tip clearance region of a transonic compressor rotor (NASA rotor 37) was computed and compared to aerodynamic probe and laser anemometer data. Tip clearance effects were modeled both by gridding the clearance gap and by using a simple periodicity model across the ungridded gap. The simple model was run with both the full gap height, and with half the gap height to simulate a vena-contracta effect. Comparisons between computed and measured performance maps and downstream profiles were used to validate the models and to assess the effects of gap height on the simple clearance model. Recommendations were made concerning the use of the simple clearance model. Detailed comparisons were made between the gridded clearance gap solution and the laser anemometer data near the tip at two operating points. The computed results agreed fairly well with the data but overpredicted the extent of the casing separation and underpredicted the wake decay rate. The computations were then used to describe the interaction of the tip vortex, the passage shock, and the casing boundary layer.Copyright © 1996 by ASME


Aluminum lumped-element kinetic inductance detectors (LEKIDs) sensitive to millimeter-wave photons have
been shown to exhibit high quality factors, making them highly sensitive and multiplexable. The superconducting
gap of aluminum limits aluminum LEKIDs to photon frequencies above 100 GHz. Manganese-doped
aluminum (Al-Mn) has a tunable critical temperature and could therefore be an attractive material for
LEKIDs sensitive to frequencies below 100 GHz if the internal quality factor remains sufficiently high when
manganese is added to the film. To investigate, we measured some of the key properties of Al-Mn LEKIDs.
A prototype eight-element LEKID array was fabricated using a 40 nm thick film of Al-Mn deposited on a
500 µm thick high-resistivity, float-zone silicon substrate. The manganese content was 900 ppm, the measured
Tc = 694 ± 1mK, and the resonance frequencies were near 150 MHz. Using measurements of the forward
scattering parameter S21 at various bath temperatures between 65 and 250 mK, we determined that the
Al-Mn LEKIDs we fabricated have internal quality factors greater than 2 × 105
, which is high enough for
millimeter-wave astrophysical observations. In the dark conditions under which these devices were measured,
the fractional frequency noise spectrum shows a shallow slope that depends on bath temperature and probe
tone amplitude, which could be two-level system noise. The anticipated white photon noise should dominate
this level of low-frequency noise when the detectors are illuminated with millimeter-waves in future measurements.
The LEKIDs responded to light pulses from a 1550 nm light-emitting diode, and we used these light
pulses to determine that the quasiparticle lifetime is 60 µs.


This beautifully produced new paperback edition of "Silent Images" explores a puzzling contradiction: Despite the multitude of artifacts and texts that have come to us from ancient Egypt, much still remains obscure regarding the lives of women. Women were, from the historical perspective, silent - but how should this silence be interpreted? What was the reality of women's lives behind the standardized images? We know that their chief role in society as mothers and anchors of the family was honored and respected, although it meant a degree of segregation and, in most periods, excluded them from public office. Nevertheless, in law they were the equals of men and they could, and did, own property, which they administered and disposed of themselves.Zahi Hawass's book searches for a more realistic picture of women's lives in ancient Egypt. As well as reconsidering the evidence from tomb and temple, the author draws on unpublished material from his excavations at the workers' cemetery at Giza, which sheds light on the womenfolk of the workmen who built and maintained the pyramids. The text is complemented by lavish illustrations of places and objects, many made especially for this book.


OBJECTIVE
To determine the role of glutathione monoester on reducing the development of plaque formation in an animal model.

DESIGN
Laboratory control trial.

PLACE AND DURATION OF STUDY
Aga Khan University, Karachi, from January 2004 to December, 2004.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
Twenty-four Balb/c mice were divided into 3 equal groups. First group was fed on atherogenic diet alone, while the second group received atherogenic diet plus twice weekly injections of glutathione monoester. The third group was fed on normal diet for mice. After one year, the animals were sacrificed. Blood was analyzed for lipid levels, while liver, kidney, spleen, heart and aorta were removed to study morphological changes.

RESULTS
In the groups of mice receiving atherogenic diet (with and without glutathione monoesters), there was significant increase in levels of total cholesterol (p=0.011) and LDL cholesterol (p=0.001) compared to levels of these lipids in mice on normal diet. However, a significant decrease in levels of triglycerides (p=0.01) was observed in the group receiving atherogenic diet along with glutathione monoester. Supplementation with glutathione monoester had the most pronounced effect only on triglyceride levels. Atherosclerotic plaques were seen in heart and/or aorta of mice receiving atherogenic diet. However, such plaques were either totally absent or if seen in an animal, were extremely small and diffuse in the group receiving glutathione monoester along with atherogenic diet. Mice on normal diet had no evidence of any plaque formation. Cholesterol granuloma was seen in liver of mice on atherogenic diet alone. In mice receiving atherogenic diet plus glutathione monoester, no cholesterol granuloma was found in liver. There were no remarkable morphological changes in spleen and kidney in the three groups of mice.

CONCLUSION
Glutathione monoester appears to inhibit or reduce the development of plaque formation in mice.


It has been over a decade since the publication of Michael Hardt and Antoni Negri's widely read Empire, a book that claimed humanity had entered a qualitatively new era in the organization of power. How do critical sociological studies that also theorize global capitalism depart from or share affinities with Hardt and Negri's Foucauldian-inspired notion of empire? The two most important shared insights is the notion of a new epoch in the history of world capitalism and the conceptualization of a global system that moves beyond the idea of U.S. imperialism solely as behind its fundamental structure. However, overpowering Hardt and Negri's framework are some fundamental problems: the vague and nondialectical idea of multitude, the lack of the role of the state, their confusing and contradictory idea of constitutionalism, and a misapprehension of immaterial labor.


Branching fraction measurements of charmless B 0 ! K (cid:1) 0 h (cid:2) 1 h (cid:3) 2 ( h 1 ; 2 (cid:4) K , (cid:1) ) decays are presented, using a data sample of 383 (cid:5) 10 6 (cid:1) (cid:6) 4 S (cid:7)! B (cid:2) B decays collected with the BABAR detector at the PEP-II asymmetric-energy B -meson factory at SLAC. The results are B (cid:6) B 0 ! K (cid:1) 0 K (cid:2) K (cid:3) (cid:7)(cid:4)(cid:6) 27 : 5 (cid:8) 1 : 3 (cid:8) 2 : 2 (cid:7)(cid:5) 10 (cid:3) 6 , B (cid:6) B 0 ! K (cid:1) 0 (cid:1) (cid:2) K (cid:3) (cid:7)(cid:4)(cid:6) 4 : 6 (cid:8) 1 : 1 (cid:8) 0 : 8 (cid:7)(cid:5) 10 (cid:3) 6 , and B (cid:6) B 0 ! K (cid:1) 0 (cid:1) (cid:2) (cid:1) (cid:3) (cid:7)(cid:4)(cid:6) An level. We also present measurements of CP -violating asymmetries for the observed decays.


We examined the effects of pregnancy on the ovine cerebral vasculature by comparing several characteristics of isolated endothelium-intact segments of three intracranial arteries including the middle cerebral (MCA), posterior communicating (PC), and basilar (BAS) arteries taken from pregnant sheep (138-143 days gestation, term approximately 145 days) and nonpregnant controls. For comparison, segments of the extracranial common carotid (COM) artery were also studied. With pregnancy, vessel water content increased (5.4-5.8%) in all arteries except the PC. Additionally, cellular protein content increased in all arteries (4.4-50.0%). Arterial stiffness, as determined by passive stress-strain determinations, was significantly decreased during pregnancy in the MCA but not in the larger arteries. Maximum contractile responses, when normalized to vessel wall cross-sectional area, were consistently greater in arteries from pregnant than in those from nonpregnant animals (10.1-49.7%). Relaxation to the endothelium-independent guanylate cyclase stimulator S-nitroso-N-acetyl penicillamine (SNAP) increased with pregnancy only in the distal MCA (approximately 17%). Endothelium-dependent relaxation to the calcium ionophore A23187 decreased only in the larger and more proximal COM (-39%). Thus pregnancy was associated with an increase in production of contractile force, a decrease in peripheral vascular stiffness, a decrease in the relaxant response to A23187 in the COM, and an increase in the relaxant response to SNAP in the MCA. Together, these findings indicate that pregnancy has widespread and important vessel specific cerebrovascular consequences that affect not only arterial composition, but also contractility and endothelial reactivity.


'Invariant regions' are image patches that automatically deform with changing viewpoint as to keep on covering identical physical parts of a scene. Such regions are then described by a set of invariant features, which makes it relatively easy to match them between views and under changing illumination. In previous work, we have presented invariant regions that are based on a combination of corners and edges. The application discussed then was image database retrieval. Here, an alternative method for extracting (affinely) invariant regions is given, that does not depend on the presence of edges or corners in the image but is purely intensity-based. Also, we demonstrate the use of such regions for another application, which is wide baseline stereo matching. As a matter of fact, the goal is to build an opportunistic system that exploits several types of invariant regions as it sees fit. This yields more correspondences and a system that can deal with a wider range of images. To increase the robustness of the system even further, two semi-local constraints on combinations of region correspondences are derived (one geometric, the other photometric). They allow to test the consistency of correspondences and hence to reject falsely matched regions.


In current research on parenting, 2 ways of conceptualizing perceived parental autonomy support can be distinguished. Parental autonomy support can be defined in terms of promotion of independence (PI) or in terms of promotion of volitional functioning (PVF). This study aimed to establish the empirical distinctiveness of both conceptualizations and to examine their relative contribution to the prediction of adolescents' adjustment. The authors conducted 3 studies, 2 which sampled late adolescents (N=396, mean age=18.70 years, 79% female; and N=495, mean age=19.30 years, 74% female, respectively) and 1 which sampled middle adolescents (N=153, mean age=15.12 years, 70% female). Factor analyses pointed to the distinction between perceived PVF and PI. Structural equation modeling (SEM) indicated that whereas perceived PVF uniquely predicted adjustment (ps<.01), perceived PI did not (ps>.05). SEM also demonstrated that adolescents' self-determined functioning significantly mediates the relationship between perceived parental PVF and adjustment (ps<.001). Results are discussed in terms of the type of autonomy that parents might want to facilitate among their adolescents to foster well-being.


of the right ovary was 31.9 (IQR 12.4) mm3 at baseline and 38.5 (IQR 10.2) mm3 at week 16 (p = 0.065). The volume of the left ovary was 27.9 (IQR 26.8) mm3 at baseline and 31.6 (IQR 8.2) mm3 at week 16 (p = 0.01). The total oocyte count of the right and left ovaries was 7.0 (IQR 4.5) at baseline and 7.0 (IQR 7.75) at week 16 (p = 0.51). Conclusions: This preliminary report suggests that a four-month exercise intervention initiated early after BS does not modify endometrial thickness, ovarian volumes or oocyte count further than BS alone. Bariatric surgery seems to increase ovarian volume and could induce an early decrease in endometrial thickness. Further research will determine how BS with and without exercise affects ovulation.


Radiative divertor operation in JET high confinement mode plasmas with the ITER-like wall has been experimentally investigated and simulated with EDGE2D-EIRENE in horizontal and vertical low field side (LFS) divertor configurations. The simulations show that the LFS divertor heat fluxes are reduced with N2-injection in similar fashion in both configurations, qualitatively consistent with experimental observations. The simulations show no substantial difference between the two configurations in the reduction of the peak LFS heat flux as a function of divertor radiation, nitrogen concentration, or pedestal Zeff. Consistently, experiments show similar divertor radiation and nitrogen injection levels for similar LFS peak heat flux reduction in both configurations. Nevertheless, the LFS strike point is predicted to detach at 20% lower separatrix density in the vertical than in the horizontal configuration. However, since the peak LFS heat flux in partial detachment in the vertical configurations is shifted towards the far scrape-off layer (SOL), the simulations predict no benefit in the reduction of LFS peak heat flux for a given upstream density in the vertical configuration relative to a horizontal one. A factor of 2 reduction of deuterium ionization source inside the separatrix is observed in the simulations when changing to the vertical configuration. The simulations capture the experimentally observed particle and heat flux reduction at the LFS divertor plate in both configurations, when adjusting the impurity injection rate to reproduce the measured divertor radiation. However, the divertor Dα-emissions are underestimated by a factor of 2–5, indicating a short-fall in radiation by the fuel species. In the vertical configuration, detachment is experimentally measured and predicted to start next to the strike point, extending towards the far SOL with increasing degree of detachment. In contrast, in the horizontal configuration, the entire divertor particle flux profile is reduced uniformly with increasing degree of detachment.


Abstract COVID-19 had undoubtedly speeded up adoption of digital technologies. Most of the theoreticians agree that changes that happened in the pandemic period would not happen in the next several years or even decades. There is almost no business operation that has not been affected by the pandemic, from customer relation and sales to supply chain. It influenced different business sectors leaving permanent change and making a significant proportion of organizations working in at least hybrid mode: combining digital and traditional pre-pandemic ways of working. COVID-19 had significantly changed the workplace and way of working. Workplace has shifted to digital or at least hybrid and employees and companies have adopted new ways of working, including usage of digital technologies but also accepting more agile and flexible procedures and rules. The research community has followed this phenomenon and tried to provide best possible recommendation to it accordance to recognized research methods. The paper provides a systematic literature review of the most significant scientific and industry publication in the years after the pandemic start. It is based on Kitchenham methodology of the systematic review with selected publication from recognized bibliographic databases. First part provides general effects of the pandemic to digital transformation of businesses all over the globe, mostly connected to analysis of the employees' workplace preference. The second part is focused on digital workplace transformation and presents key theoretical and professional findings in the post-pandemic workplace. This part is consisted of the preview of benefits of the digital workplace transformation, identification of critical success factors and the most significant challenges of the process.


Ever since the couture maison Christian Dior (CD) joined the Chambre Syndicale De La Haute Couture, it has been presenting its biannual runway shows for approximately 70 years. "Aesthetic elegance" the essence of haute couture is what couturiers in Christian Dior have to portray in their garments. However, Raf Simons, who took over Dior after John Galliano, was unable to do this. This paper proves this fact by using the criteria set by Suzuki from his working experience with Guy Laroche in 1980s. Using this criteria, examined are Galliano's 11 AW and Simons' 14 AW as well as his 12 AW as appearing in the film "Dior and I," which describes the designing and manufacturing process of the collection. The study confirms that while Galliano met the standard of haute couture, Simons did not in that he did not compromise with the brand in his minimalism even though he did in terms of color. Simons' career cannot be termed as that of a true couturier. If his minimalism continues, haute couture, which necessitates gorgeousness, will disappear in CD. It was also revealed that the ateliers of couture maisons cannot do efficient work without well-trained couturiers. The paper confirms and concludes that couturiers affect the existence of couture maisons.


In this work we present active microfluidic liquid handling integrated on-chip with no need for external actuators. The concept is based on a temperature sensitive silicone elastomer composite, consisting of PDMS and expandable microspheres. We successfully fabricated single-use microfluidic pumps and displaced liquids in the range of nanoliters even against counter pressures up to 100kPa. Moreover, liquid flow in a microchannel was entirely blocked by means of integrated valves. The valves could withstand pressures up to 140kPa. The devices were fabricated entirely from low cost materials and allow wafer-level processing to be used.


The purpose of this study was to develop and test an optimization model that will
provide a deployment plan of emission reduction technologies to reduce emissions from
non-road equipment. The focus of the study was on the counties of Texas that have
nonattainment (NA) and near-nonattainment (NNA) status.
The objective of this research was to develop methodologies that will help to
deploy emission reduction technologies for non-road equipment of TxDOT to reduce
emissions in a cost effective and optimal manner. Three technologies were considered
for deployment in this research, (1) hydrogen enrichment (HE), (2) selective catalytic
reduction (SCR) and (3) fuel additive (FA). Combinations of technologies were also
considered in the study, i.e. HE with FA, and SCR with FA. Two approaches were
investigated in this research. The first approach was "Method 1" in which all the
technologies, i.e. FA, HE and SCR were deployed in the NA counties at the first stage.
In the second stage the same technologies were deployed in the NNA counties with the
remaining budget, if any. The second approach was called "Method 2" in which all the
technologies, i.e. FA, HE and SCR were deployed in the NA counties along with deploying only FA in the NNA counties at the first stage. Then with the remaining
budget, SCR and HE were deployed in the NNA counties in the second stage. In each of
these methods, 2 options were considered, i.e. maximizing NOx reduction with and
without fuel economy consideration in the objective function. Thus, the four options
investigated each having different mixes of emission reduction technologies include
Case 1A: Method 1 with fuel economy consideration; Case 1B: Method 1 without fuel
economy consideration; Case 2A: Method 2 with fuel economy consideration; and Case
2B: Method 2 without fuel economy consideration and were programmed with Visual
C++ and ILOG CPLEX. These four options were tested for budget amounts ranging
from $500 to $1,183,000 and the results obtained show that for a given budget one
option representing a mix of technologies often performed better than others. This is
conceivable because for a given budget the optimization model selects an affordable
option considering the cost of technologies involved while at the same time maximum
emission reduction, with and without fuel economy consideration, is achieved.
Thus the alternative options described in this study will assist the decision
makers to decide about the deployment preference of technologies. For a given budget,
the decision maker can obtain the results for total NOx reduction, combined diesel
economy and total combined benefit using the four models mentioned above. Based on
their requirements and priorities, they can select the desired model and subsequently
obtain the required deployment plan for deploying the emission reduction technologies
in the NA and NNA counties.


The antiproliferative effects of human interferon (IFN), IFN-γ, IFN-α54, and IFN-βser, alone and in combination, were assessed on 10 human cell lines. All IFNs were produced by recombinant technology and purified to homogeneity. In all cell lines except one, the addition of IFN-γ to either IFN-α54 or IFN-βser resulted in a synergistic antiproliferative effect, regardless of individual IFN sensitivities or tissue of origin. The only exception was a normal diploid fibroblast cell in which an additive antiproliferative effect occurred with combination IFN treatment. A malignant fibrosarcoma cell line of similar mesenchymal origin demonstrated a synergistic antiproliferative effect. One cell line was sensitive to both type I and type II IFN alone. Three cell lines were relatively resistant to IFN-γ but not to IFN-βser, one was relatively resistant to IFN-βser but not to IFN-γ, and the remainder were resistant to both IFN-γ and IFN-βser or IFN-α54. The addition of IFN-α54 to IFN-βser in the SKCO 1 cell line resulted in an antagonistic interaction. Timing experiments with RT112 cells indicate that IFN-γ and IFN-βser need not be in the media at the same time for the synergistic effect to occur. Combinations of type I and type II IFN thus resulted in synergistic antiproliferative effect for transformed human cells of various histogenesis, including some with a relative resistance to one or both IFN types.


Although a directed assembly strategy has been utilized for the massive assembly of various nanowires and nanotubes (NWs/NTs), its application has usually been limited to rather small-diameter NWs/NTs prepared in solution. We report two complementary methods for the massive assembly of large-size ZnO nanowires (NWs). In the solution-phase method, ZnO NWs were assembled and aligned selectively onto negatively charged surface patterns in solution. In addition, the substrate bias voltage and capillary forces can be used to further enhance the adsorption rate and degree of alignment of ZnO NWs, respectively. In the direct-transfer method, a NW film grown on a solid substrate was placed in close proximity to a molecule-patterned substrate, and ultrasonic vibration was applied so that the NWs were directly transferred and aligned onto the patterned substrate. The solution-phase and direct-transfer methods are complementary to each other and suitable for the assembly of NWs prepared in solution and on solid substrates, respectively.


This dissertation argues that Media Education at secondlevel
schooling is desirable on a number of grounds and
discusses the problems and possibilities, both past and
projected, associated with its introduction into the
Irish second-level curriculum. The term 'Media education7
here denotes the interdisciplinary study of mass
communication media which can inform teaching and
learning in different 'subject' areas. It includes the
conception of 'Media Studies' as a discrete and separate
subject area in itself.

Chapter One (INTRODUCTION) traces the development of
Media Education at second-level in the Republic of
Ireland during the last two decades and indicate some
problems encountered and some which remain. Chapter two
(POPULAR OPINION AND THE MASS MEDIA), explores popular
attitudes to the media, the origins of these attitudes,
and their implications for media education. Chapter
Three (RATIONALES and AIMS) advances arguments for media
education, grounded within curriculum theory and the
writings of media specialists. Chapter Pour
(CONCEPTUALISATIONS AND TEACHING APPROACHES), describes
four conceptualisations of media education and their
implications for the teaching of media studies. Chapter
Five (CORE CONCEPTS), separates those concepts which
might be considered central to the field of study.
Chapter six (THE IRISH SECOND-LEVEL CURRICULUM), traces
the historical development of the Republic's curriculum, its educational philosophy and general thrust and, in the
light of the curriculum's particular aims and goal,
argues for the introduction of Media Studies. Finally, in
Chapter Seven, CONCLUSIONS and RECOMMENDATIONS are
offered. A GENERAL SYLLABUS FOR MEDIA STUDIES, and
STRATEGIES FOR INCLUDING MEDIA STUIDIES WITHIN JUNIOR
CERTIFICATE ENGLISH are included in the Appendices.


Dynamic symbioses may critically mediate impacts of climate change on diverse organisms, with repercussions for ecosystem persistence in some cases. On coral reefs, increases in heat-tolerant symbionts after thermal bleaching can reduce coral susceptibility to future stress. However, the relevance of this adaptive response is equivocal owing to conflicting reports of symbiont stability and change. We help reconcile this conflict by showing that change in symbiont community composition (symbiont shuffling) in Orbicella faveolata depends on the disturbance severity and recovery environment. The proportion of heat-tolerant symbionts dramatically increased following severe experimental bleaching, especially in a warmer recovery environment, but tended to decrease if bleaching was less severe. These patterns can be explained by variation in symbiont performance in the changing microenvironments created by differentially bleached host tissues. Furthermore, higher proportions of heat-tolerant symbionts linearly increased bleaching resistance but reduced photochemical efficiency, suggesting that any change in community structure oppositely impacts performance and stress tolerance. Therefore, even minor symbiont shuffling can adaptively benefit corals, although fitness effects of resulting trade-offs are difficult to predict. This work helps elucidate causes and consequences of dynamism in symbiosis, which is critical to predicting responses of multi-partner symbioses such as O. faveolata to environmental change.