SystemC is rapidly gaining wide acceptance as a simulation framework for SoC and embedded processors. While its main assets are modularity and the very fact it is becoming a de facto standard, the evolution of the SystemC framework (from version 0.9 to version 2.0.1) suggests the environment is particularly geared toward increasing the framework functionalities rather than improving simulation speed. For cycle-level simulation, speed is a critical factor as simulation can be extremely slow, affecting the extent of design space exploration. In this article, we present a fast SystemC engine that, in our experience, can speed up simulations by a factor of 1.93 to 3.56 over SystemC 2.0.1. This SystemC engine is designed for cycle-level simulators and for the moment, it only supports the subset of the SystemC syntax (signals, methods) that is most often used for such simulators. We achieved greater speed (1) by completely rewriting the SystemC engine and improving the implementation software engineering, and (2) by proposing a new scheduling technique, intermediate between SystemC dynamic scheduling technique and existing static scheduling schemes. Unlike SystemC dynamic scheduling, our technique removes many if not all useless process wake-ups, while using a simpler scheduling algorithm than in existing static scheduling techniques.


SCOPE
Phytosterols are bioactive compounds in plants with similar cholesterol-lowering properties as vegetarian diets. However, information on phytosterol intake and plasma plant sterols among vegetarians is sparse.

METHODS AND RESULTS
We examined dietary intake and plasma concentration of plant sterols and cholesterol across five dietary patterns in the Adventist Health Study-2 Calibration Sub-study (n = 861, 66% females, average age 61 years). To measure intake and plasma concentrations of these compounds, we used 24-h dietary recalls and gas-liquid chromatography-flame ionization detection, respectively. Mean (SD) total phytosterol and cholesterol intake were 363 (176) mg/day and 131 (111) mg/day; plasma β-sitosterol, campesterol, and cholesterol were 3.3 (1.7) μg/mL, 4.2 (2.3) μg/mL, and 1.9 (0.4) mg/mL, respectively. Total phytosterol intake was lowest among non-vegetarians (263 mg/day) and highest among vegans (428 mg/day) (p < 0.0001). Cholesterol intake was lowest among vegans (15.2 mg/day) and highest among non-vegetarians (124.6 mg/day) (p < 0.0001). Plasma plant sterols and cholesterol did not differ by diet. Cholesterol-adjusted plasma β-sitosterol and campesterol were significantly higher in Blacks than Whites, though no ethnic differences were observed in dietary intake of these plant sterols.

CONCLUSION
Dietary intake but not plasma concentration of plant sterols and cholesterol varies across distinct plant-based diets.


BACKGROUND
To investigate the structural basis for functional deficits in infantile strabismus we used a neuroanatomic tracer and a histochemical label to examine the primary visual cortex (area V1) of adult esotropic macaque monkeys.

ANIMALS AND METHODS
The animals had developed natural esotropia in the first months of life, alternated fixation, and exhibited the ocular motor signs that typify strabismus with onset in infancy. After behavioral and VEP testing, ocular dominance columns (ODCs) in V1 were injected with a neuronal traser and labeled for cytochrome oxidase activity.

RESULTS
The strabismic monkeys showed striking deficits in binocular luminance visually-evoked potentials (VEPs) and characteristic directional asymmetries in motion VEPs. Binocular horizontal connections between ODCs were reduced an average of 50-60% in strabismic as compared to normal monkeys. ODCs also showed unequal metabolic activity with contralaterally (i.e. nasal retina) driven ODCs showing greater activity in each V1.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION
The maldevelopment of connections in upper V1 layers correlates with the abnormalities in binocular and motion VEPs. The unequal metabolic activity suggests interocular suppression. These results provide the first neuroanatomic evidence for cerebral cortex maldevelopments in natural infantile esotropia.


The Article sets out a theory of interpretation where the Charter reflects an authoritative standard of public policy. It is not to be used only as a test of legality but as a test of legitimacy. Section 35 of the Constitution on aboriginal rights offers an opportunity in which the Charter's central concept of fundamental justice in the context of a free and democratic society can be applied to break out of sterile common law conceptions and interpretations. The questions of legitimacy and public policy are instrumental to the way we govern ourselves. This article is available in Osgoode Hall Law Journal: http://digitalcommons.osgoode.yorku.ca/ohlj/vol26/iss1/4 AN ESSAY ON CONSTITUTIONAL INTERPRETATION*


The quantification especially of fine roots of trees creates some difficulty because, contrary to the aboveground parts of the tree, roots are not readily visible. In recent years electrical methods have been developed for detecting the volume of roots without digging out and destroying the root system. Three methods were investigated in this thesis and the results of these methods were critically compared with those of other researchers. The grounding resistance measurement is a low-frequency method. This technique was tested in large field studies and was intended to find the optimal test assembly for the measurement and to investigate the major influencing factors. The earth impedance method is a further development of the grounding resistance measurement and also a low-frequency method. For the investigations for the earth impedance method, tests were performed in an electrolytic tray with imitations of a root and in some field experiments. The last of the three methods, the impedance spectroscopy, was tested in the laboratory with willow cuttings in a nutrient solution. The tests on the grounding resistance measurement showed that the main influential variable is the electrical resistance of phloem and xylem of the tree. Furthermore, temperature and soil moisture influence the earth ground resistance. The actual electrical resistance cannot be analyzed with this method separately from disturbances. Root imitations (copper cables or copper disks) in the electrolytic tray can only be identified if they are placed close to the liquid surface. The deeper the object lies in the solution, the more imprecise was the object displayed in the electric image. Further tests demonstrate that larger disks at a greater depth provide similar results to smaller discs at a shallower depth. The results cannot be interpreted clearly. The experiments with the impedance spectroscopy revealed the main factors which influence the impedance spectrum in differing large part. The main experiments showed good correlations between the raw data (real and imaginary part of the impedance) and the root length when using a quantile regression. Some models (equivalent circuits) were found which explain the measured data well. Especially the ohmic resistors and some capacities of the equivalent circuits correlate with the root length. These results differ from those of relevant publications. In summary, it can be determined that it is not possible to quantify the root system using low-frequency measurements. Further experiments in impedance spectroscopy are needed especially in respect to the marginal conditions. The present work can be seen as a first step towards a methodical foundation.


On August 21, 2013, Queensland Health Forensic and Scientific Services (QHFSS), the public health reference laboratory in Coopers Plains, Queensland, Australia, informed public health authorities of 2 case-patients with Shiga toxinproducing Escherichia coli O157 (STEC) illness in Brisbane. The next day, 2 additional case-patients were reported. All 4 case-patients attended the annual agricultural show in Brisbane, the capital of Queensland, a state of Australia, and had no other exposures in common. The agricultural show was open to the public during August 817. The show provided opportunities for visitors to see and pet farm animals. More than 400,000 persons visited the show in 2013.


Trends in patient care, along with escalating health care costs, and the demand for medication safety may provide a breadth of opportunities for clinical pharmacists. Service and drug use guidelines development, medication error prevention, quality assurance, and pharmacoeconomic assessment are areas in which skills of the oncology pharmacist may be used. Although expert systems may aid the pharmacist in these areas, such systems cannot replace the professional.


Friction stir processing (FSP) has been applied to fabricate 10~20 vol% nano-sized ZrO2 and 5~10 vol% nano-sized SiO2 particles into an Mg-AZ31 alloy to form bulk composites under the FSP parameters of advancing speed of 800 rpm and pin rotation of 45 min/min. The microstructures and mechanical properties of the resulting composites were investigated. The clustering size of nano-ZrO2 and nano-SiO2 particles, measuring average ~200 nm was relatively uniformly dispersed, and the average grain size of the both Mg alloy of the composites varied within 1.0~2.0 μm after four FSP passes. No evident interfacial product between ZrO2 particles and Mg matrix was found during the FSP mixing in AZ31-Mg/ZrO2. However, significant chemical reactions at the AZ31-Mg/SiO2 interface occurred to form the Mg2Si phase. The mechanical responses of the nano-composites in terms of hardness and tensile properties are examined and compared.


The single-particle superconducting Green\'s functions of a Luther-Emery liquid is computed by bosonization techniques. Using a formulation introduced by Poilblanc and Scalapino [Phys. Rev. B v. 66, art. 052513 (2002)], an asymptotic expression of the superconducting gap is deduced in the long wavelength and small frequency limit. Due to superconducting phase fluctuations, the gap exhibits as a function of size L a (1/L)^{1/2K_\\rho} power-law decay as well as an interesting singularity at the spectral gap energy. Similarities and differences with the 2-leg t-J ladder are outlined.


This paper attempts to shed insight onto the significance of the intercultural and interreligious understanding when translating the jihād concept. Religious concepts like jihād, are an intriguing area of research. Understanding and translating these religious concepts is shaped by the translator's presuppositions. The translator cannot be detached from these presuppositions, consciously or unconsciously, because they are constituted by the narratives of his culture. He is embedded in these narratives and his understanding and translation has largely been shaped by them. As such, the translator must choose the best targeted English word or words to translate jihād. That choice, however, has its own conception and presuppositions on this issue. Therefore, the idea of intercultural and interreligious dialogue has become essential when translating religious concepts like jihād because it draws the attention of the translator to counter-narratives. This awakening informs him of discrepancies in the historical experience of the religious concept under examination and deconstruct his own set of presuppositions. As such, this study applies Baker's narrative theory to examine the translations of the jihād concept.


Personal communication services (PCS) is a new concept that will expand the horizon of wireless communications beyond the limitations of current cellular systems to provide users with the means to communicate with anyone, anywhere, anytime. It is called PCS by the FCC or personal communications networks (PCN) by the rest of the world. Its goal is to provide integrated communications (such as voice, data, and video) between nomadic subscribers irrespective of time, location, and mobility patterns. It promises near-universal access to mobile telephony, messaging, paging, and data transfer.


The major concern of this study has been to identify the contribution of the word processor to changes brought about in a school writing context.

Whilst technology might be seen to alter particular human practices, and also to alter human attributes, such effects upon human agents do not occur unless technological implements are utilised in a cultural setting. Writing is identified as a technological activity involving cultural and material technologies which dialogically and dialectically confine and yet enable meaning-making.

Three technologies used in school writing are identified and through an examination of the foundations upon which they have been constructed these are shown to be Through an examination of a community setting, the teacher and his classroom, and taking three students and their work as a sample, these three technologies are shown to be modified by students in the service of composing text.

Taking into account cultural and political factors, it is shown that the word processor does provide opportunity for students to modify writing activities and practices but only as cultural and political factors allow. The word processor does not, of itself, alter the writing complex. Implications from these findings suggest that it is only as the school community, teachers and students recognise a need for cultural and political change will the word processor provide opportunity for writing in a variety of ways not usually attempted in classroom settings — that is, for a reconceptualisation of compositional practice.


Background Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is a common type of cancer with poor prognosis. As individual cancers exhibit unique mutation patterns, identifying and characterizing gene mutations in NSCLC might help predict patient outcomes and guide treatment. The aim of this study was to evaluate the clinical adequacy of molecular testing using next-generation sequencing (NGS) for small biopsy samples and characterize the mutational landscape of Korean patients with advanced NSCLC. Methods DNA was extracted from small biopsy samples of 162 patients with advanced NSCLC. Targeted NGS of genomic alterations was conducted using Ion AmpliSeq Cancer Hotspot Panel v2. Results The median age of patients was 64 years (range, 32 to 83 years) and the majority had stage IV NSCLC at the time of cancer diagnosis (90%). Among the 162 patients, 161 patients (99.4%) had novel or hotspot mutations (range, 1 to 21 mutated genes). Mutations were found in 41 genes. Three of the most frequently mutated genes were TP53 (151, 93.2%), KDR (104, 64.2%), and epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR; 69, 42.6%). We also observed coexistence of EGFR and other oncogene (such as KRAS, PIC3CA, PTEN, and STK11) mutations. Given that 69.6% (48/69) of EGFR mutant patients were treated with EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors, EGFR mutant status had higher prognostic ability in this study. Conclusions These results suggest that targeted NGS using small biopsy samples is feasible and allows for the detection of both common and rare mutations in NSCLC.


This article examines, using a behavioural microsimulation model for New Zealand, the impact of the major package of welfare reforms collectively referred to as 'Working for Families' (WfF). These reforms were announced in May 2004 and involved a phased introduction of changes, with annual modifications from October 2004 until April 2007. Concentrating on welfare payments for families with dependent children, this remains a cornerstone of the New Zealand welfare system. The simulation takes a backward†looking perspective, by comparing labour supply under the 2008 database and tax structure with that obtained using the 2008 data and 2004 tax structure (suitably adjusted for inflation).


SUMMARY Stem taper functions predict diameter variation along the tree stem, enabling to estimate merchantable volume according to market requirements. In this study, a stem taper function for Pinus sylvestris in Turkey was developed using the mixed-effects modelling approach, which allows some parameters to include a fixed part (common to the whole population) and a random effect (individualspecific response). We analyzed different strategies to choose the best combination of fixed parameters to expand with random effects (mixed-effects parameters): (1) expanding fixed parameters that presented the highest variability and (2) all possible combinations of one and two mixed-effects parameters; the best performance was observed in the latter. Given that inclusion of random effects was not enough to account for the existing correlation between the residuals of the same individual, the variance-covariance matrix of the error term was modelled by a first-order autoregressive structure. In addition, we evaluated the response obtained by calibration (estimation of random effects for a new individual), i.e. using a diameter measured at different heights along the stem. The selected mixed-effects model presented the best results both in the fitting and calibration steps. Generally, the mixed-effects model is recommended if an additional stem diameter measurement at 40-90 % of the total tree height is available. Otherwise, and from a predictive point of view, the model fitted by non-linear ordinary least squares is recommended, which only considers fixed parameters.


The history of blacks at Harvard mirrors, for better or for worse, the history of blacks in the United States. Harvard, too, has been indelibly scarred by slavery, exclusion, segregation, and other forms of racist oppression. At the same time, the nation's oldest university has also, at various times, stimulated, supported, or allowed itself to be influenced by the various reform movements that have dramatically changed the nature of race relations across the nation. The story of blacks at Harvard is thus inspiring but painful, instructive but ambiguous--a paradoxical episode in the most vexing controversy of American life: the "race question." The first and only book on its subject, Blacks at Harvard is distinguished by the rich variety of its sources. Included in this documentary history are scholarly overviews, poems, short stories, speeches, well-known memoirs by the famous, previously unpublished memoirs by the lesser known, newspaper accounts, letters, official papers of the university, and transcripts of debates. Among Harvard's black alumni and alumnae are such illustrious figures as W.E.B. Du Bois, Monroe Trotter, and Alain Locke; Countee Cullen and Sterling Brown both received graduate degrees. The editors have collected here writings as diverse as those of Booker T. Washington, William Hastie, Malcolm X, and Muriel Snowden to convey the complex ways in which Harvard has affected the thinking of African Americans and the ways, in turn, in which African Americans have influenced the traditions of Harvard and Radcliffe. Notable among the contributors are significant figures in African American letters: Phyllis Wheatley, William Melvin Kelley, Marita Bonner, James Alan McPherson and Andrea Lee. Equally prominent in the book are some of the nation's leading historians: Carter Woodson, Rayford Logan, John Hope Franklin, and Nathan I. Huggins. A vital sourcebook, Blacks at Harvard is certain to nourish scholarly inquiry into the social and intellectual history of African Americans at elite national institutions and serves as a telling metaphor of this nation's past.


Introduction Histoplasmosis, blastomycosis, coccidioidomycosis, actinomycosis, nocardiosis, cryptococcosis, moniliasis, aspergillosis, sporotrichosis, geotrichosis, and mucormycosis comprise the deep mycotic infections. During the past 10 years significant advances in knowledge concerning their epidemiology, pathogenesis, and treatment have been made. These fungal infections manifest a variety of signs and symptoms, often indistinguishable from those caused by viruses, bacteria, and parasites. The pathogenic fungi should be considered in the differential etiology of both acute and chronic pulmonary infections, skin and mucous membrane lesions, and infections of the brain and blood. Once suspected, fungal infections can often be readily verified by identification of the organism by culture or direct examination of exudates and biopsy material. The pathogenic fungi are not fastidious and will grow on enriched blood agar and a variety of the more restricted media. Thus, failure to make an early diagnosis in most cases is due to the fact that the physician does not


The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the understanding of the processes that make teachers learn in a collaborative arrangement similar to lesson study (LS) and learning study (LearS). The teachers in this collaboration wanted to enhance teaching and student learning (grades 4-7) about decimal numbers.,The analysis is based on data from five teachers' collaborative work in an adaptive arrangement of LS and LearS called subject didactic groups. Data consist of eight audio recordings of the teachers' meetings as well as written and photographic documentation of the meetings. The analysis was carried out through the lens of expansive learning within an activity system (Engestrom, 1987). This entailed a focus on contradictions between teachers' ways of thinking and acting when individually and collaboratively developing their teaching, on the solutions to the conflicts produced by the teachers, and on how these challenged the teachers' ideas about what the students need to learn.,The authors identified contradictions between formative and summative assessment, exams and stressed students, prevailing norms about teaching and the theoretical tool used for planning and analyzing lessons and student learning, and the local curriculum and time constraints. The solutions to the conflicts were the driving force for developing new and more qualitative knowledge about what the students need to learn.,This paper gives explicit examples of contradictions and solutions that can challenge and drive teachers to expand their learning in an adaptive form of LS and LearS suited to daily teaching.


Anthropogenic litter is omnipresent in terrestrial and freshwater systems, and can have major economic and ecological impacts. Monitoring and modeling of anthropogenic litter comes with large uncertainties due to the wide variety of litter characteristics, including size, mass, and item type. It is unclear as to what the effect of sample set size is on the reliability and representativeness of litter item statistics. Reliable item statistics are needed to (1) improve monitoring strategies, (2) parameterize litter in transport models, and (3) convert litter counts to mass for stock and flux calculations. In this paper, we quantify sample set size requirement for riverbank litter characterization, using a database of more than 14,000 macrolitter items (>0.5 cm), sampled for 1 year at eight riverbank locations along the Dutch Rhine, IJssel, and Meuse rivers. We use this database to perform a Monte Carlo based bootstrap analysis on the item statistics, to determine the relation between sample size and variability in the mean and median values. Based on this, we present sample set size requirements, corresponding to selected uncertainty and confidence levels. Optima between sampling effort and information gain is suggested (depending on the acceptable uncertainty level), which is a function of litter type heterogeneity. We found that the heterogeneity of the characteristics of litter items varies between different litter categories, and demonstrate that the minimum required sample set size depends on the heterogeneity of the litter category. This implies that more items of heterogeneous litter categories need to be sampled than of heterogeneous item categories to reach the same uncertainty level in item statistics. For example, to describe the mean mass the heterogeneous category soft fragments (>2.5 cm) with 90% confidence, 990 items were needed, while only 39 items were needed for the uniform category metal bottle caps. Finally, we use the heterogeneity within litter categories to assess the sample size requirements for each river system. All data collected for this study are freely available, and may form the basis of an open access global database which can be used by scientists, practitioners, and policymakers to improve future monitoring strategies and modeling efforts.


The management of patients following discharge with acute asthma is dependent on effective communication with general practitioners. A retrospective audit was therefore performed on copies kept of 81 typed discharge letters with a diagnosis of acute asthma between March and October 1991. A subset of 42 interim (handwritten) letters were also audited where case notes could be retrieved. Details on clinic follow up were also obtained from the case notes (n=42). In the typed letter documentation of severity and treatment of the acute attack was accurate in most cases. Information concerning a precipatating factor was provided in 54% of cases and a smoking history in 57%. Deficiencies were found in specifying inhaler delivery devices (40% recorded), and whether inhaler technique had been formally assessed whilst in hospital (17%). Drug prescribing on discharge was as follows: oral steroid (69%), inhaled steroids (77%), inhaled B2-agonists (92%), theophylline slow release (38%), salbutamol controlled release (20%), and antibiotics (30%). The implementation of a self-management plan and domiciliary peak flow was mentioned in 66% of the letters. The interim letter was generally poor in particular for mention if discharge peak flow (2%), clinic follow-up (64%) and prednisolone regime (61%). Mean ± s.d. time for clinic follow-up (n=42) was 4.7± 1.7 weeks (range 1–13 weeks) with 24% non-attendance. Thus, improvements in discharge letters are clearly required for optimum continuity of care in the community.


This thesis is composed of two parts. The objective of the first part was to investigate the influence of the intermediately coupled plasma environment on the radiating hydrogen-like aluminium ions by using high resolution, high dispersion vertical geometry Johann spectrometer. Benefiting from the high spectral and spatial resolution of the spectrometer as well as from optimized sandwich-target geometry, the influence of the ionization potential lowering and the influence of electron-plasma waves in the emission spectra are observed. These results have both practical and theoretical importance. Practical, because some signatures observed in the emission spectrum lead to a new density diagnostic, and, theoretical, because they can be used to test different theoretical formulations of radiator-plasma interactions. The second part of the thesis reports about the quantitative investigations of atomic motions in semiconducting samarium mono-sulphide (SmS) using optical pumping and X-ray probing. Coherent acoustic phonon propagation in semiconducting SmS is observed. The observed acoustic phonons have frequencies up to about 0.08 THz. The time resolved diffraction data are in good agreement with theoretical predictions for coherent phonon excitation, demonstrating that, up to the laser fluence of about 10 mJ/cm2 SmS behaves as a standard semiconductor, i.e., a semiconductor which (at the laser fluences used) shows no interplay between valence fluctuations and lattice vibrations.


Introduction: The prevalence of vitamin D deficiency in India is about 70% to 100%. India has a large population of socioeconomically backward people. Pregnant women are considered as a high risk group with global reports citing 20-80% of pregnant women may suffer from vitamin D inadequacy and deficiency. There are evidences suggesting that vitamin D deficient women and vitamin deficient babies are at higher risk of various illnesses.
Aim: To study the vitamin D level in maternal and their newborn and to correlate the maternal and newborn vitamin D level with their socioeconomic status.
Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in Government referral Hospital and Kasturba Medical College Hospital, Mangalore, India for a period of two years. A total of 80 term pregnant women were selected; all pregnant women who were antenatal booked cases either in private or government have received calcium supplements. About 2 mL of maternal blood and cord blood samples were collected during labour. The estimation of vitamin D was done by ELISA kit. The socioeconomic status of the mother were assessed. The data collected were stastically analysed using Student's paired t-test, chi-square/Fishers test and Pearson's correlation.
Results: Vitamin D deficiency was observed in 41.2% of the mother and 70% of the newborn, insufficiency in 33.8% of the mothers and 22.5% of the newborn and normal level of vitamin D in 25% of the mother and 7.5% of the baby. There was a positive correlation observed with maternal vitamin D levels and cord blood. Vitamin D deficiency in mother and their newborn of different socioeconomic status found to be statistically significant. Calcium and vitamin D supplementation in the mother had statistical significance on maternal vitamin D status.
Conclusion: Maternal vitamin D levels have positive correlation with vitamin D levels of newborn, adequate vitamin D supplements in the mother has a positive correlation with vitamin D levels in both mother and newborn. Lower socioeconomic status of the mother has negative impact on Vitamin D levels of both mother and newborn.


Error in Text and Table: In the Original Investigation titled "Effectiveness of Remote Patient Monitoring After Discharge of Hospitalized Patients With Heart Failure: The Better Effectiveness After Transition–Heart Failure (BEAT-HF) Randomized Clinical Trial," published online February 8, 2016, in JAMA Internal Medicine,1 there was an error in the second sentence of the second paragraph of the Results section. The sentence should read as follows: "Telemonitoring adherence to greater than 50% of days was documented in 55.4% (396 of 715) of intervention patients at 30 days and in 51.7% (370 of 715) at 180 days, while telephone coaching adherence to greater than 50% of calls was 61.4% (439 of 715) of intervention patients at 30 days and 68.0% (486 of 715) at 180 days." Also, in Table 3 incorrect information appeared. The 30 and 180-day quality-of-life scores for the Intervention group should have read 485 (30.28) and 383 (28.50), respectively. The 30 and 180-day quality-of-life scores for the Usual Care group should have read 503 (32.21) and 413 (32.63), respectively. In addition, the heading for quality-of-life score should read Quality-of-Life Score, No. (Mean). This article was corrected online.


This study was carried out to determine the spatial and temporal changes of organic carbon (OC) concentrations in surface sediment and core samples taken from the base of the İkizcetepeler Dam. Although organic carbon (OC) is an important component of natural life, when found in wetlands over a certain amount, it leads to organic pollution and reduces dissolved oxygen in the environment, putting the life of other living things at risk. Therefore, it is extremely important to determine the spatial and temporal distribution of the amount of OC in wetlands. Within the scope of the study, the data acquired from the titration method on surface and core samples collected were converted into extensional distribution maps and vertical distribution graphs using Arc – Map 10.5 Software. Thus, the amount and distribution of OC were determined, resource identification was facilitated, and risky areas at the base of the dam lake were identified. When all the findings were evaluated, it was determined that the amount of OC reached the highest values was at the sample points where Kille Stream, Koca Stream, and Çınarlı stream mouth and old settlements were located. The highest values according to temporal or spatial distribution were found between 5 – 10 cm slices. This indicates that the OC was transported from the watershed by streams other than Bağırsak Stream and discharged into the dam and that the discharge has increased to its maximum level in recent years and is now on a downward trend. According to the field studies carried out around Ikizcetepeler Dam and data obtained from available literature and analytical procedures, no OC origin pollution was observed in the dam.


Through theoretical analysis of thyristor switch, criterion of turn-off was derived for the design of thyristor switch. The expression of parameter design and its math model during the turn-off were deduced. The simulation and experiment have been accomplished to validate the analysis.


Conversational channels are changing the landscape of hybrid cloud service management. These channels are becoming important avenues for Site Reliability Engineers (SREs) %Subject Matter Experts (SME)
to collaboratively work together to resolve an incident or issue. Identifying segmented conversations and extracting key insights or artefacts from them can help engineers to improve the efficiency of the incident remediation process by using information retrieval mechanisms for similar incidents. However, it has been empirically observed that due to the semi-formal behavior of such conversations (human language) the conversations are very unique in nature and also contain domain-specific terms. %It is important to identify the correct keywords and artefacts like symptoms, issue etc., present in the conversation chats.
In this paper, we build a framework that taps into the conversational channels and uses various learning methods to (1) understand and extract key artefacts from conversations like diagnostic steps and resolution actions taken and (2) present an approach to identify past conversations about similar issues. Experimental results on our dataset show the efficacy of the methods used in our proposed system.


History of the spasticity is evoked including its physiological and medical aspects. The reduction of functional capacity of the patient experiencing spasticity is, for the author, one of the major duties of the medical staff involved in the treatment of this symptom. Some aspects of the measure of the reduction of functional capacity due to this symptom are described. Its seems to the author that the new treatments (neuronal graft.) should increase the number of patients to be treated for spasticity.


The previous two chapters dealt with the relationship between the intrinsic spectral properties of materials, such as the absorption coefficient and complex index of refraction as they relate to the chemical composition of the medium. Such properties are not directly measurable. Instead, what one is able to measure, either remotely or in a laboratory setting, are apparent spectral properties such as reflectance and transmission. Such properties are related not only to the chemical composition, but also the physical makeup of the material, including features such as physical dimensions, scatterer concentrations and size distributions, and surface roughness characteristics. This chapter proceeds in two major sections. The first section is largely theoretical in nature, establishing the relationships between the intrinsic and apparent spectral properties of materials. This begins with the simple case of a single homogenous layer with smooth surfaces but continues to deal with scattering layers, multiple layers, rough surfaces, and surface emission. The second section provides a more empirical investigation of the measured properties of common remote sensing materials, such as atmospheric gases, liquid water, vegetation, minerals, soils, and manmade
materials. 4.1 Apparent Spectral Properties Apparent spectral properties provide the observable signature for
hyperspectral remote sensors and are measurable quantities. These include spectral reflectance, transmittance, and emissivity. Spectral reflectance is defined here as the ratio of spectral irradiance reflected off a material to spectral irradiance incident on the material. Similarly, spectral transmittance is the ratio of spectral irradiance transmitted through the material to the incident irradiance. An inferred quantity that is related to these two properties through conservation of energy is the spectral absorbance, which is the ratio of irradiance absorbed in the material to the incident irradiance upon it. Spectral emissivity, which is the ratio of emitted spectral radiance to that of an ideal blackbody, is also related to absorbance. Note that the simple definitions given here do not account for the directionality of reflected and transmitted irradiance, an important issue when dealing with rough surfaces and scattering media. More-precise
definitions are provided later in this chapter to account for this increased complexity.


This article treats the ability emotions have to point up the relevance of past events and so structure consciousness of history. It shows how knowledge of the past is embodied via the agency of emotions. The case study looks at how history is given emotional expression among the Banabans, a group stemming from Banaba Island in central Oceania and later resettled in Fiji. Under the hegemony of Western "regimes of historicity", the Banabans created a new specific consciousness of history, transforming in the process themselves and their relationships with others. By analyzing several of the channels (oral, artistic, performative) via which Banabans vent their history, the article shows how they articulate knowledge of the past—underscored as relevant by emotions—with awareness of their ethnicity in the past and present. It is argued that emotions are involved in forming historicity, a process that is marked, not least, by reciprocity.


Federated Learning aims at training a global model from multiple decentralized devices (i.e. clients) without exchanging their private local data. A key challenge is the handling of non-i.i.d. (independent identically distributed) data across multiple clients that may induce disparities of their local features. We introduce the Hyperspherical Federated Learning (SphereFed) framework to address the non-i.i.d. issue by constraining learned representations of data points to be on a unit hypersphere shared by clients. Specifically, all clients learn their local representations by minimizing the loss with respect to a fixed classifier whose weights span the unit hypersphere. After federated training in improving the global model, this classifier is further calibrated with a closed-form solution by minimizing a mean squared loss. We show that the calibration solution can be computed efficiently and distributedly without direct access of local data. Extensive experiments indicate that our SphereFed approach is able to improve the accuracy of multiple existing federated learning algorithms by a considerable margin (up to 6% on challenging datasets) with enhanced computation and communication efficiency across datasets and model architectures.


A magnesium alloy substitution design for an automotive seat back frame is carried out. With the magnesium extrusion profiles and the stamping panel integrated, the weight of the seat back frame is reduced by 41.3% and the lightweight goal is achieved. At the same time, the magnesium alloy stamping panel is processed warm forming analysis and verified the formability of the magnesium alloy panel. Numerical calculations comparing the original structure and the substitution design are performed with finite element software, which ensured that the performance indicators such as the mode, the strength and the stiffness defined by related regulatory requirements are all realized. At last, a magnesium alloy substitution design has been proved to be successful.


: Proving and quantifying lost productivity is one of the most challenging areas in construction claims. Among the available approaches, the measured mile method is ranked as the most preferred method to quantify lost productivity according to AACE International. The method is preferred, in part, because it eliminates disputes over the validity of the original estimate by comparing actual productivity of similar work, with the primary difference being the impacts in question. Since the distinction between the impacted and non-impacted sections in many projects is not readily observable, researchers and professionals have developed various procedures to help identify the measured mile. In this article, the authors will review various techniques that have been developed previously and present their Improved Baseline Method.


Abstract Background Genetic recombination is a tremendous source of intrahost diversity in viruses and is critical for their ability to rapidly adapt to new environments or fitness challenges. While viruses are routinely characterized using high-throughput sequencing techniques, characterizing the genetic products of recombination in next-generation sequencing data remains a challenge. Viral recombination events can be highly diverse and variable in nature, including simple duplications and deletions, or more complex events such as copy/snap-back recombination, intervirus or intersegment recombination, and insertions of host nucleic acids. Due to the variable mechanisms driving virus recombination and the different selection pressures acting on the progeny, recombination junctions rarely adhere to simple canonical sites or sequences. Furthermore, numerous different events may be present simultaneously in a viral population, yielding a complex mutational landscape. Findings We have previously developed an algorithm called ViReMa (Virus Recombination Mapper) that bootstraps the bowtie short-read aligner to capture and annotate a wide range of recombinant species found within virus populations. Here, we have updated ViReMa to provide an "error density" function designed to accurately detect recombination events in the longer reads now routinely generated by the Illumina platforms and provide output reports for multiple types of recombinant species using standardized formats. We demonstrate the utility and flexibility of ViReMa in different settings to report deletion events in simulated data from Flock House virus, copy-back RNA species in Sendai viruses, short duplication events in HIV, and virus-to-host recombination in an archaeal DNA virus.


We study the performance of a decision feedback decoder (DFD) for convolutional codes over an interleaved burst channel. The DFD adaptively estimates channel reliability information from previous decisions. The effect of error propagation, finite interleaving and the length of the initial training sequence is explicitly studied. A binary Gilbert-Elliott channel is used to model the correlation structure of the error process. Comparison of the DFD and the hard decision decoding with Hamming metric reveals a crossover between the performance curves, depending on the interleaving parameters and channel statistics.


I examine how strategy is defined in the literature and find that most conceptualizations predominantly focus on financial metrics as measures of performance and mainly provide guidance on the strategic management of a corporation's economic context. I also explore the work on externalities and corporate social responsibility to understand how environmental and social issues have been integrated in the literature. I find that environmental and social performance is examined either in isolation or by assuming a strong form of independence from financial performance. Therefore, I identify a clear gap in our understanding of the fundamental strategic problem in the age of sustainability and social responsibility. I highlight the urgent need for rigorous research around the phenomenon itself, and its theoretical implications for strategy as a field. Importantly, I suggest and discuss an extended definition (i.e., a reconceptualization) of strategy, and I refer to empirical evidence of the emergence of the "sustainable organization"—a distinct type of the modern corporation that effectively and profitably integrates environmental and social issues into its strategy. I also briefly suggest avenues for future research.


Infection with the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) causes COVID-19, a disease that involves significant lung tissue damage. How SARS-CoV-2 infection leads to lung injury remains elusive. The open reading frame 8 (ORF8) protein of SARS-CoV-2 (ORF8SARS-CoV-2) is a unique accessory protein, yet little is known about its cellular function. We examined the cellular distribution of ORF8SARS-CoV-2 and its role in the regulation of human lung epithelial cell proliferation and antiviral immunity. Using live imaging and immunofluorescent staining analyses, we found that ectopically expressed ORF8SARS-CoV-2 forms aggregates in the cytosol and nuclear compartments of lung epithelial cells. Using in silico bioinformatic analysis, we found that ORF8SARS-CoV-2 possesses an intrinsic aggregation characteristic at its N-terminal residues 1-18. Cell culture did not reveal any effects of ORF8SARS-CoV-2 expression on lung epithelial cell proliferation and cell cycle progression, suggesting that ORF8SARS-CoV-2 aggregates do not affect these cellular processes. Interestingly, ectopic expression of ORF8SARS-CoV-2 in lung epithelial cells suppressed basal expression of several antiviral molecules, including DHX58, ZBP1, MX1, and MX2. In addition, expression of ORF8SARS-CoV-2 attenuated the induction of antiviral molecules by IFNγ but not by IFNβ in lung epithelial cells. Taken together, ORF8SARS-CoV-2 is a unique viral accessory protein that forms aggregates when expressing in lung epithelial cells. It potently inhibits the expression of lung cellular anti-viral proteins at baseline and in response to IFNγ in lung epithelial cells, which may facilitate SARS-CoV-2 escape from the host antiviral innate immune response during early viral infection. In addition, it seems that formation of ORF8SARS-CoV-2 aggregate is independent from the viral infection. Thus, it would be interesting to examine whether any COVID-19 patients exhibit persistent ORF8 SARS-CoV-2 expression after recovering from SARS-CoV-2 infection. If so, the pathogenic effect of prolonged ORF8SARS-CoV-2 expression and its association with post-COVID symptoms warrant investigation in the future.


Around the world, poor households save in various forms and for various purposes. Although empirical evidence suggests that the poor would deposit if appropriate financial institutions and savings facilities were available, little progress has been made to establish microfinance institutions (MFIs) as full-fledged financial intermediaries. In fact, today most MFIs offer only credit, and savings mobilization remains the forgotten half of micro-finance. The Consultative Group to Assist the Poorest (CGAP) Working Group on Savings, formed in 1996 and chaired by GTZ (representing Germany), has recently completed case studies of four deposit-taking MFIs and a related comparative paper. This note represents a synopsis of these studies.


This paper investigates the application of Adaptive Differential Evolution (DE) algorithm to enhance the performance of broadband antenna. A linear array consisting of half wavelength long unequally spaced parallel dipoles is designed to meet the increasing demand of extremely large bandwidth in wireless communication systems. Array is devised to maintain an almost invariable radiation patterns over a wide range of frequencies. Constant beam widths, good side lobe characteristics and minimum bearable voltage standing wave ratio (VSWR) are achieved for the allocated frequency band. Coupling effect has been taken into account via induced EMF method and minimized in terms of VSWR. In the proposed technique excitation and position of the individual array element are optimized in order to obtain a fixed SLL and minimum bearable VSWR over the proposed bandwidth. Dynamic range ratio (DRR) of excitation distribution is fixed at an optimum value for further mitigation of coupling effect. Phase distribution for all the elements is kept at zero degree. An adaption schemes to tune the scaling factor and crossover rate of population in DE is used to solve the design problem. Numerical results show the aforementioned modifications make the algorithm more effective to design the proposed broadband array.


Born to couple: The Pd(OAc)2 -catalyzed reaction of o-alkynylanilines (1) with o-alkynylbenzamides (2) affords the cyclizative cross-coupling products 3 in good to excellent yields. Three bonds are created in the formation of two heterocycles tethered by a tetrasubstituted double bond. Mechanistic studies indicate that the reaction is initiated by aminopalladation with subsequent oxypalladation, N-demethylation, and reductive elimination.


This paper proposes a novel approach to information-based trading, incorporating both asymmetric information and symmetric order-flow shocks. It focuses on the dynamics of securities trading and postulates that trading activities are determined by the state of nature. A two-dimensional Markov chain is used to model the hidden information states of the market and the state set is allowed to vary across time and companies. Distinguished from the prevailing approaches to information-based trading, the Hidden Markov Model (HMM) approach updates the prior belief of information states using newly observed order flows and identifies trading motives in a data-driven manner. Each trading day is associated with dynamic measures of probability of information based trading (PIN) and probability of symmetric order-flow shock (PSOS). In addition, it allows multiple occurrences of information events rather than limit the frequency of information arrival to once a day. The HMM approach does not rely on a particular market structure and it can be applied to various markets. To evaluate the HMM approach, we conduct extensive Monte Carlo simulation experiments. It shows superior performance in dynamic daily PIN and PSOS estimates as well as cumulative estimates over any time interval in all simulation scenarios, evidenced by their negligible errors compared with true values and higher accuracy than the estimates obtained from alternative approaches. Using a sample of 30 NYSE stocks, we examine the properties of the dynamic PIN estimate as a proxy for information asymmetry and the dynamic PSOS estimate as a measure of illiquidity. We also show how they can be used to explain and predict realized volatility of returns. Dynamic PSOS is a significant contributor to the realized volatility for all the stocks in the sample and its effect is more profound than dynamic PIN, reflecting dominant effect of investors' dispersed beliefs on price fluctuations.


The tutorial focuses on hypercube interconnected architectures as a computational engine for relational-database processing. Several implementations of the many currently available hypercube systems are highlighted, and comments on their potential performance in evaluating relational-database operators are presented. All algorithms assume that the relevant data are memory resident. Experimental timings obtained from a portable hypercube-based database system are presented to characterize performance potential for various uniscan and multiscan operations.<<ETX>>


Ebselen (EbSe), an organo-selenium compound with well-characterized toxicology and pharmacology, exhibited potent antibacterial activity against glutathione (GSH)-positive bacteria when combined with silver ions (Ag+). In this paper, the strong bactericidal activity of EbSe-Ag+ against multidrug-resistant (MDR) Acinetobacter baumannii has been confirmed, and its efficacy was mainly based on the inhibition of thioredoxin reductase (TrxR) activity and the depletion of the total GSH amount. Moreover, the therapeutic effect of EbSe-Ag+ on urinary tract infection was assessed in a mouse model induced with A. baumannii 0361# strain. The treatment with EbSe-Ag+ significantly reduced the bacterial load and expression levels of the pro-inflammatory cytokines interleukin-6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and interferon-γ (IFN-γ) in bladder lesions; meanwhile, the pathological experiment showed that A. baumannii-induced changes in EbSe-Ag+ treated mice were much attenuated than that in the control group. Thus, all the results obtained here may lay the foundation for further analysis and development of EbSe-Ag+ as potential antibacterial agents for MDR A. baumannii-induced urinary tract infection treatment.


Geographical variation in birdsong is taxonomically widespread and behaviourally salient, with females often preferring local over non-local song. However, the benefits associated with this preference remain poorly understood. One potential explanation is that song may reflect a male's place of origin and thus allow females to obtain genes well adapted to the local environment. We studied naturally occurring variation in the degree to which the elements of a male's song repertoire matched those of the local population ('syllable sharing') in migratory song sparrows (Melospiza melodia melodia). Syllable sharing was correlated with genetic similarity to the local population, suggesting that song reflects population of origin. Males sharing more syllables also had larger testosterone-dependent traits, fewer blood-borne parasites and reduced indicators of stress. Our findings are consistent with locally good genes models. Alternatively, immigrants' condition may suffer due to unfamiliarity with the breeding site or inability to match song elements during territorial interactions. Females preferring 'local-sounding' males may thus obtain genetic and/or direct benefits for their offspring.


Due to both environmental and technical advantages, natural fibers are being used as reinforcement of polymeric composite in many industries. The flexibility of the most natural fibers is one of the important technical characteristic which allows them to resist impact forces. An investigation was carried out to compare the energy absorption capability of kenaf/PVB film and kenaf/epoxy composites. The hot and cold press techniques were used to fabricate the specimens with 35% kenaf fibre weight fraction. The charpy impact test was performed on forty notched specimens using a pendulum impact tester with different hammer energy. The results showed that the kenaf/PVB film composite has the highest energy absorption, strength and toughness compared with the epoxy composite. At high energy levels, the impact strength and toughness of the kenaf/PVB film was six times of kenaf/epoxy composite. In addition, the scanning electron microscopy was assessed to demonstrate the different failure in fracture surfaces. It was found that the kenaf/PVB film composite failed by fibre fracture while kenaf/epoxy composite failed by a combination of fibre pull-out and fibre fracture as well as crack propagations through the matrix.


SCOPE
The casein phosphoproteins in mother's milk supply calcium and phosphate ions and make them biologically available to the newborn. Human αS1-casein is of particular interest being also an autoantigen and proinflammatory cytokine. Phosphorylation of αS1-casein by casein kinase 2 completely abolishes binding to toll-like receptor 4 and proinflammatory effects. It is, however, not known, which amino acids are affected. Therefore, breast milk samples were analyzed in an effort to detect the phosphorylation sites of αS1-casein.

METHODS AND RESULTS
Breast milk samples were tryptically digested. Target tandem MS analysis confirmed the known phosphorylation sites S33 and S41; evidence for pS89 was found in some samples. Experimental support for the presence of pS31 and pS34 was weak. Phosphorylation of a new site in αS1-casein, S71, was reproducibly measured in all samples, albeit at much lower intensity than pS33 and pS41.

CONCLUSION
Phospho-occupancy rates varied greatly and could not be confidently correlated to other parameters within the cohort of 20 donors. The new phosphosite S71 is located in the neighborhood of the serine-rich region and may contribute to the cluster of high charge density at normal milk pH, likely exerting an influence on protein tertiary structure and thus function.


A theory to explain how changecan happen in communities to improve wellbeing, to inform the What Works Centre for Wellbeing community evidence programme. This Theory of Change describes ways in which community wellbeing can be built. It represents some of the possible pathways for improving community wellbeing and by doing so it simplifies some very complex issues and relationships. It should help to understand how and why interventions might work, what will happen in the short term and how long term change in communities can occur. This resource provides an accessible summary as an introduction to our Theory of Change. It will be used to inform how our researchers collect and interpret evidence during the three year project. As the evidence programme develops we will refine the Theory of Change to represent our growing understanding of what works for community wellbeing. The development of this Theory of Change was informed by some stakeholder engagement activities held across the UK between June and September 2015. This is summarised in a 'Voice of the Users' report.


The intestine was lined by enterocytes with microvilli which were longest in the nectarivore, shortest in the granivore and intermediate in the omnivore.

The gastrointestinal anatomy was analysed quantitatively using stereology. Volumes of the stomach and the proportions of the various layers of the stomach, discernible at light microscopic level, were similar in the three groups. However, the omnivorous silvereyes were found to have a significantly larger volume density of the muscular layer of the proventriculus than the other species. The granivorous zebra finches had a significantly larger surface area of the primary mucosal tube of the proventriculus than the other species. The granivorous zebra finches had a significantly larger volume of the muscular layer of the ventriculus as well as a significantly thicker gastric cuticle.

Intestinal volumes and all other variables were similar in the nectarivore and the omnivore. Most variables were significantly larger in the granivorous zebra finch than in the other species with the exception of the villous amplification factor in the duodenum. This was significantly larger in the omnivore than the other two species. The larger values in the granivorous zebra finch was due to the significantly longer segments of the intestinal tract than in the other species.

Ultrastructurally, the nectarivorous brown honeyeaters had significantly taller microvilli than the other two species and a significantly larger packing density than the granivorous zebra finches. There was no statistical difference in the overall surface area due to microvilli in all segments of the intestine in the three different dietary groups. The villi and microvilli jointly enlarge the basic mucosal tube more than 75-fold in the nectarivores, 83-fold in the granivores and 106-fold in the omnivores.

The avian gastrointestinal tract was characterised using lectin cytochemistry Concanavalia agglutinin (Con A) and Arachis hypogea agglutinin. Peanut agglutinin (PNA). The apical cell boundaries of surface epithelial cells of both the proventriculus and ventriculus, the duct and glandular neck cells of the proventriculus, the intestinal brush borders, the surface epithelial cells of the sheep abomasum and the chief cells of the sheep abomasum were stained by Con A and PNA. The intracytoplasmic granules of the duct and glandular neck cells of the proventriculus, those of the chief or principal cells of the ventriculus, those of the goblet cells of the ileum, colon and cloaca and those of the chief and surface epithelial cells of the sheep abomasum were stained by PNA. Gastro-intestinal endocrine cells and the parietal cells of both the avian gut and the sheep abomasum were not stained by either lectins.

The cytochemical results indicated that those cells stained by the two lectins have both a-D-mannose or a-D-glucose and P-galactose- (l,3)-N-acetylgalactosamine residues in their membranes. Those stained by either of the two lectins had either of the two sugars as components of their cell membrane and their granules. Goblet cells were heterologous. The duct and glandular neck cells of the proventriculus, the chief cells of the ventriculus, the goblet cells of the ileum, colon, cloaca, and the chief and surface epithelial cells of the sheep abomasum had similar intracytoplasmic granules.

The results indicate that the nectarivores and the granivores are adapted to their various diets. The adaptive structures of the nectarivores to their liquid diet are the smaller proventriculi, with more branching and anastomosing, spiral, mucosal folds. These provide a large surface area for the accommodation of its more liquid diet. The small, sac-like, less muscular ventriculus lined by a jelly-like gastric cuticle also reflects that the liquid diet does not need any trituration before absorption. The shorter intestines, with the tallest and most densely packed microvilli provided a maximal absorptive surface for rapid absorption of sugars.

The adaptive structures of the granivores to their solid granivorous diet were the thin and longer proventriculi, with reduced and scattered mucosal folds, which only acidify the digesta. The much heavier, highly muscular ventriculus, lined by a tough, abrasive resistant, gastric cuticle reflects the degree of trituration needed by the granivorous diet. The much longer intestines with shorter, wider and less densely packed microvilli, enhance digestion and absorption of nutrients provided by the solid granivorous diet.

The adaptive features of the omnivores that allow them to accommodate any diet are the intermediate proventriculi which are not as long as those of the granivores but are longer than those of the nectarivores. The spiral mucosal folds are reduced in size and scattered in the proventriculi. The ventriculi of this species are moderately muscled, with a semi solid gastric cuticle. The intestines of this species are shorter but have longer and more densely packed microvilli than those of the granivores. These accord with the silvereye's omnivorous diet.

Thus the height and packing density of the microvilli seen in the intestine of the birds examined reflects, and is adapted to, their diet.

The granivore and the nectarivore are specialist of their different diet. If the environment or the habitat of the three species of birds is altered, the omnivorous species may adapt successfully to the altered environment and the available diet. However, the other two species may not adapt successfully.


Although there is extensive published information on the prevalence of pressure ulcers in many countries of the world, yet there is a lack of researches concerning the application of nursing interventions for their prevention in hospitals. Objective: Determine the effect of applying nursing interventions for preventing pressure ulcers among hospitalized geriatric patients. Setting: The study was carried out in Tishreen University Hospital, Lattakia, Syria. Subjects: The study subjects comprised 40 hospitalized geriatric patients. These were divided equally into two groups: study and control. Each group comprised 20 elders. Elders in the control group were left to the hospital routine while those in the study group were subjected to nursing interventions for two weeks. The applied nursing interventions include reposition schedule, use pillows to protect bone prominences, proper bed making twice daily, prevention of skin moisture, adequate fluid intake, care for elders' hygiene and use cream on bone prominences. Tools: Three tools were used for data collection: the sociodemographic and clinical structure interview schedule, Skin assessment observation check list and the Braden scale for predicting pressure ulcer risk. Results: The implemented nursing interventions had a positive effect in preventing the development of pressure ulcer among elders' in the study group where the majority of the patients showed no pressure ulcers or no sign of pressure ulcer after two weeks while pressure ulcers were observed among more than two thirds of the patients in the control group. Conclusion: The program succeeded in preventing the development of pressure ulcers. Recommendations: Hospitals' policy should enforce the application of nursing intervention measures to prevent the occurrence of pressure ulcer.


Why does ethnopolitical conflict sometimes lead to genocide and other times to peace? In this volume, political scientists, psychologists, sociologists, and historians examine over a dozen international cases to try to understand what causes a society's ethnic conflicts to escalate or deescalate. This unique book contains cogent critiques of the political and historical antecedents to conflict around the world, combining them with psychological analyses of group identity and intergroup conflict. In examining the escalation of ethnic conflict, the authors highlight the critical role of group identification. How group identification becomes enmeshed with threatened economic resources, violent political subcultures, and media manipulation of collective fear is stressed. The lessons from the histories of specific countries are given cogent review: Why is Tanzania a rare model of ethnic peace in Africa while its neighbor Rwanda houses the worst case of ethnic warfare on the continent? How can South Africa's history provide a positive example of the resolution of ethnopolitical tensions? This book illustrates the promise that an interdisciplinary approach has to offer in preventing further genocide and ethnic warfare in the 21st century.


Smart home security and remote monitoring have become vital and indispensable in recent times, and with the advent of new con cepts like Internet of Things and development of advanced authentication and security technologies, the need for smarter security s ystems has only been growing. The design and development of an intelligent web -based door lock control system using face recognition technology, for authentication, remote monitoring of visitors and remote control of s mart door lock has been reported in th is paper. This system uses Haar-like features for face detection and Local Binary Pattern Histogram (LBPH) fo r face recognition. The system also includes a web-based remote monitoring, an authentication module, and a bare-bones embedded IoT server, which transmits the live pictures of the visitors via email along with an SMS notification, and the owner can then remotely control the lock by responding to the email with predefined security codes to unlock the door. This system finds a wide application in smart homes where the physical presence of the owner at all times is not possible, and where a remote authentication and control is desired. The system has been implemented and tested using the Raspberry Pi 2 board, Python along with OpenCV are used to program the various face recognition and control modules.


Researchers are increasingly exploring the role of emotions in interactive decision‐making. Recent theories have focused on the interpersonal effects of emotions—the influence of the decisionmaker's expressed emotions on observers' decisions and judgments. In this paper, we examine whether people assess others' risk preferences on the basis of their emotional states, whether this affects their own behavior, and how this assessment matches others' actual behavior. To test these ideas, we used an experimental Stag Hunt game (n = 98), and included non‐trivial financial consequences. Participants were told (truthfully) that their counterparts' previous task had left them happy, fearful, or emotionally neutral. People who were told their counterparts were fearful reported that they expected less risky decisions from these counterparts than people told their counterparts were neutral or happy. As a result, given that the Stag Hunt is a coordination game, these participants were themselves less risky. Interestingly, these participants' expectations were not accurate; thus, coordination failed, and payoffs were low. This raises the possibility of a "curse of knowledge" whereby one player's erroneous beliefs about the effects of the counterpart's emotional state leads the first player to make poor action choices.


The unbalanced energy consumption among self-powered sensor nodes negatively impacts network lifetime. In order to overcome this limitation, we propose a new cluster header selection and cluster formation scheme. With our scheme, sensor nodes within a cluster autonomously decide in which time frame they will act as a cluster header based on the amount of energy consumption in the current round. In addition, they are conditionally allowed to switch their cluster header depending on signal strength of their current cluster header. Our simulation results show the proposed scheme increases the network lifetime and provides a well-balanced energy consumption pattern among the nodes in a cluster compared to previously proposed schemes.


A promising new operation-coronary bypass-has been developed for the treatment of coronary heart disease. However, because of the nature of the underlying disease and the minute size of the vessels to be anastomosed, its long-range prospects are in doubt. At this point in time there is no evidence that the operation either prevents infarction or prolongs life, and great caution is urged in applying it, reserving it for those who have life-threatening coronary artery disease, are clearly recalcitrant to optimum medical management, and have apparently normal coronary vessels distal to the point of stenosis.There is an urgent need for a better definition of the indications for operation in patients with coronary artery disease based on a study of the natural history of this coindition. Prophylactic operation for patients with a compromised coronary circulation with or without angina must await long-term results of therapeutic operation.


Arab sources provide the most detailed information on ethnic groups and early-formations of South-Eastern Europe VIII – IX centuries. The oldest surviving cycle of information about this region, as well as the Turkic steppe zone of Eurasia in the Arab tradition represented by al-Dzhayhani school traditionally referred to in the historiography, «an anonymous note», as the name of the author is not known. More precisely it should be called the story «On the Turks», as the author of the text refers the people of South-Eastern Europe to the Turks. The text of the «anonymous note» reproduce with certain variations, all the representatives of this school (Ibn Rust, al-Marvazi, Gardizi, al-Bakri, the author of an anonymous work «Hudud al-Alam» etc.). Judging by the location of nomadic ethnic groups in the «anonymous note», drafting of the document refers to the first half of the IX. That makes it an invaluable source for the history of the South Eastern Europe in the period preceding the formation of Kiev Rus.


Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) has the potential to unlock many of the mysteries of the brain. Although this imaging modality is popular for brain-mapping activities, clinical applications of this technique are relatively rare. For clinical applications, classification models are more useful than the current practice of reporting loci of neural activation associated with particular disorders. Also, since the methods used to account for anatomical variations between subjects are generally imprecise, the conventional voxel-by-voxel analysis limits the types of discoveries that are possible. This work presents a classification-based framework for knowledge discovery from fMRI data. Instead of voxel-centric knowledge discovery, this framework is segment-centric, where functional segments are clumps of voxels that represent a functional unit in the brain. With simulated activation images, it is shown that this segment-based approach can be more successful for knowledge discovery than conventional voxel-based approaches. The spatial coherence principle refers to the homogeneity of behavior of spatially contiguous voxels. Auto-threshold Contrast Enhancing Iterative Clustering (ACEIC) - a new algorithm based on the spatial coherence principle is presented here for functional segmentation. With benchmark data, it is shown that the ACEIC method can achieve higher segmentation accuracy than Probabilistic Independent Component Analysis - a popular method used for fMRI data analysis. The spatial coherence principle can also be exploited for voxel-centric image-classification problems. Spatially Coherent Voxels (SCV) is a new feature selection method that uses the spatial coherence principle to eliminate features that are unlikely to be useful for classification. For a Substance Use Disorder dataset, it is demonstrated that feature selection with SCV can achieve higher classification accuracies than conventional feature selection methods.


[14C] chimyl and [3H] batyl alcohols were added to Crithidia fasciculata cultures during the mid-log phase of cell growth, and the lipid extracts of the cells were analyzed for degradation products. C. fasciculata cells were able to take up exogenous glyceryl ethers, and in amounts as high as the endogenous lipid content. The glyceryl ether taken up by the cells was incorporated into lipids either prior to the ether bond cleavage or after degradation to fatty acid. The extent of degradation and the degree of incorporation of degradation products into cellular lipid were higher for chimyl than for batyl alcohol. Batyl alcohol was not metabolized efficiently, leading to the formation of large intracellular pools of free substrate. One product of glyceryl ether degradation was identified as alkyl-dihydroxy acetone, and was detected inside and outside of the cells. The data strongly suggest that this product is the first stable intermediate in the degradation process and indicate that the extracellular formation of alkyl-dihydroxy acetone is due to the action of exoenzymes secreted by the cells. The constant detection of alk-l-enyl glycerol among the degradation products indicates the existence of a second mechanism in C. fasciculata for converting the alkyl-to alkenyl-glycerol.


Aims: This study sought to explore the decision to participate in genomics research for African American individuals. Our overall goal was to explore (1) the attributes that significantly contribute to willingness to participate in genomics research; (2) how these attributes are interpreted (what is their meaning?); (3) how trustworthiness is estimated in the decision to participate in research (i.e., what are the symbolic representations or heuristics of trustworthiness in decision-making?); and (4) how participants see factors to counterweigh each other. Methods: We sought a methodology that would afford exploration of the compensatory nature of decision-making where some choice attributes may be weighed differently than others as well as the use of heuristics (shortcuts to estimate key concepts in the mentally taxing task of decision-making) for concepts such as trustworthiness. We used a qualitative story deck to create hypothetical research scenarios with variable attributes (i.e., researcher race/ethnicity; institutional affiliation; research goal; and biospecimen requested) to determine how individuals find and interpret information to make decisions about research participation. These semi-structured interviews (n = 82) were conducted in African American barbershops in Baltimore City and Prince George's County, Maryland. Results: Quantitative and qualitative analysis was completed. Findings include that, even in the absence of interpersonal connection, trustworthiness can be communicated through multiple factors, such as (1) shared values with researchers and (2) familiarity. Conversely, (1) ambiguity, especially regarding the use of biospecimens, (2) negative reputations, and (3) perceptions of "hidden agendas" were associated with a lower willingness to participate. However, the alignment of participant and research goals was weighed more heavily in decisions than other factors. Conclusion: This study finds that negatively assessed characteristics in research design do not result in automatic rejections of participation. Negative assessments can be mitigated by emphasizing the multiple factors that communicate trustworthiness in the consent process, which may improve rates of research participation.


We report the discovery of two r-process-enhanced stars with [Fe/H] > −0.6 dex selected from the Large Sky Area Multi-Object Fiber Spectroscopic Telescope (LAMOST) survey. Three candidate stars have been selected from the LAMOST medium-resolution (R ∼ 7500) spectroscopic survey, and the followed-up high signal-to-noise ratio and high-resolution (R ∼ 31,500) spectra are obtained with the ARC Echelle Spectrograph mounted on the 3.5 m telescope at the Apache Point Observatory, which allow us for the determination of stellar atmospheric parameters and abundances of 20 elements. Among these three r-process-enhanced candidate stars, TYC 1710-933-1 and TYC 2858-372-1 have [Eu/Fe] higher than 0.3 dex and [Ba/Eu] lower than 0.0 dex, thus, can be identified as new r-process-enhanced objects. TYC 2858-372-1 shows similar r+s-process pattern to the Sun. TYC 1710-933-1 presents enhancement of the r-process elements of Nd and Eu. Our work indicates that the enrichment mechanisms of the heavy neutron-capture elements are complicated for metal-rich stars.


A new assay for 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl CoA re-ductase (mevalonate: NADP oxidoreductase [acylating CoA] , EC 126.96.36.199) is based upon the measurement of released coenzyme A (SH) during the reduction of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl CoA to mevalonate. Coenzyme A was measured in the presence of di-thiothreitol, required for activity, by reaction with 5,5'-dithio-bis(2-nitrobenzoic acid). Sodium arsenite forms a complex with the dithiol, but not with monothiols. Thus, reduced coenzyme A reacts instantaneously with the reagent and dithiothreitol reacts slowly. The absorbance due to the coenzyme A4,5'-dithiobis(2-nitrobenzoic acid) reaction is determined by extrapolating the linear (dithiol) absorbance-time curve to the time of addition of the reagent. After subtraction of control absorbance (deletion of NADPH), the concentration of CoA-SH is calculated from c max = 1.36 x lo4 at 412 nm. The method of protein removal and reduction of sulfhydryl groups on the enzyme are critical. This mahod provides an immediate assay. Recovery of reduced coen-zyme A was 98.7%. The assay is applicable for microsomes or purified enzyme and has an effective range of 0.5-50 nmoles of coenzyme A. It was applied to kinetic measurement of the pigeon liver microsomal enzyme reaction. The apparent K , value for 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl CoA was 1.75 X M, and for NADPH the value was 6.81 X M. This method was compared with the dual-label method at high and low levels of activity. The data were not statistically different.


This paper reports on the luminescence properties of Dy3+ (1.0 mol%) doped 30SrO-30MgO-40P2O5, which had been prepared by solid state reaction. The crystalline phaseswere identified using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and their luminescence properties werestudied using excitation and emission spectra obtained from photoluminescencespectroscopy. The results of XRD patterns indicate that the prepared sample containMg2P4O12 and SrMg P2O7 crystalline phase. The excitation spectrum of 30SrO-30MgO-40P2O5: Dy3+ consist many dominant broad bands' center at ~280,310 and 400-600 nm.The broad band excitation spectrum associated with defects and vacancies of hostmaterial through two different crystalline phases present in host material. The otherfeature of sharp peaks is very similar and belongs to Dy3+ ions. The observed f-ftransitions in the range of 417-475nm correspond to the transitions from 6H15/2 to 4K17/2+ 4M19/2, 21/2 + 4I13/2 + 4F7/2, 4G11/2, 4I15/2 and 4F9/2, in the range of 392nm to 6P3/2 + 6P5/2,and in the range of 312-370nm to 4K15/2, 6P7/2 + 4M15/2 and 4I11/2 respectively. The sharpemission peaks like at 482,465, and 455 nm could be assigned to the transition of4F9/2→6H15/2, 4I15/2→ 6H15/2 and 4G11/2→ 6H15/2 of Dy3+.respectively. Dy3+ has emissionsdue to the atomic energy levels of itself and emissions due to the acceptor levels ofdefect sites formed by Dy3+. In addition, the SrO-MgO-P2O5 is found a new self-activeluminescent material.


The present disclosure relates to a method and system for providing contactless upgrade for loyalty cards. The method includes creating a cryptographic paired relationship between a loyalty card associated with a user, a network device associated with a merchant and merchant store. In order to create the cryptographic pair, the method includes providing a Near Field Communication (NFC) stickers specific to each merchant. The NFC sticker may include login details to connect to a network of the merchant store. The user may download an application associated with the merchant in order to login to the network of merchant store. On following the login, the NFC sticker may be applied on the loyalty card. The loyalty card may then be used to open corresponding mobile application of the merchant in the mobile device in order to scan the NFC sticker on the loyalty card. On successful scanning, data from the NFC sticker is transmitted via the application to the network of the merchant store to verify user details and assign the details and login details to the merchant store. Thereafter, a notification request may be provided to the user on the application to join the network of the merchant store. Once the user accepts the request, the loyalty card is upgraded, and a confirmation is provided to the user. Thereafter, at any subsequent visit to the merchant store, the loyalty card may be used passively without utilising mobile phone details given the mobile phone or its connected wearable/IoT peers connect to the network of the merchant store (e.g. LAN) with the previously stored login details. 16 FLANAGAN and KANG: A METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR PROVIDING CONTACTLESS UPGRADE FOR LOYALTY Published by Technical Disclosure Commons, 2020


One of the main innovation emerged in recent years in the field of venous thromboembolism (VTE) has been represented by the clinical development and marketing of new oral anticoagulant agents used for prophylaxis and acute treatment. These drugs are represented by direct thrombin inhibitors (anti-factor IIa) and the direct inhibitors of activated factor X (anti-Xa). The main achievement of these new agents is represented by their ease of use without laboratory monitoring or dose adjustment. Dabigatran (anti-factor IIa), rivaroxaban, and apixaban (anti-Xa) are in advanced phase of clinical development with concluded phase III trials. Up to now the results of efficacy and safety of phase III clinical trials are available, while phase IV studies are currently ongoing. Overall, the phase III clinical trials showed the non inferiority of new oral anticoagulants in VTE prophylaxis of patients undergone to major orthopedic surgery, such as hip and knee arthroplasty, compared to conventional prophylaxis represented by subcutaneous low molecular weight heparin with similar safety. Moreover dabigatran has shown to be not inferior when compared to warfarin for the prevention of six months VTE recurrences, with a significative lower incidence of bleedings. Awaiting the results of many other ongoing phase III trials, since now it is possible to think that, in the next future, new oral anticoagulants will be widely diffused in clinical practice for their ease of use and feasibility. In this review the Authors analyse the available results of phase III clinical trials for dabigatran, rivaroxaban and apixaban, focusing on the antithrombotic endpoints for prevention and treatment of VTE and the bleeding risk. Moreover synthesis of ongoing trials will be displayed.


In this review we integrate ideas about regional and systemic circulatory capacities and the balance between skeletal muscle blood flow and cardiac output during heavy exercise in humans. In the first part of the review we discuss issues related to the pumping capacity of the heart and the vasodilator capacity of skeletal muscle. The issue is that skeletal muscle has a vast capacity to vasodilate during exercise [∼300 mL (100 g)−1 min−1], but the pumping capacity of the human heart is limited to 20–25 L min−1 in untrained subjects and ∼35 L min−1 in elite endurance athletes. This means that when more than 7–10 kg of muscle is active during heavy exercise, perfusion of the contracting muscles must be limited or mean arterial pressure will fall. In the second part of the review we emphasize that there is an interplay between sympathetic vasoconstriction and metabolic vasodilation that limits blood flow to contracting muscles to maintain mean arterial pressure. Vasoconstriction in larger vessels continues while constriction in smaller vessels is blunted permitting total muscle blood flow to be limited but distributed more optimally. This interplay between sympathetic constriction and metabolic dilation during heavy whole‐body exercise is likely responsible for the very high levels of oxygen extraction seen in contracting skeletal muscle. It also explains why infusing vasodilators in the contracting muscles does not increase oxygen uptake in the muscle. Finally, when ∼80% of cardiac output is directed towards contracting skeletal muscle modest vasoconstriction in the active muscles can evoke marked changes in arterial pressure.


The Internet Services in the Context of Development (ISCD) model is structured in four levels of hierarchy based on the Analytical Hierarchy Processes (AHP) theory. The model provides a formal approach of establishing the relative importance of Internet services in the context of fostering national development. This paper presents the fundamental concepts of the model. Pairwise Comparisons (PCs) technique the cornerstone of the AHP theory is used as the baseline technique for measuring the intensity of preference between the Internet traffic classes (therein their respective services they deliver to end users) in the process of formulating the judgment matrix. The ISCD model is modelled to process data obtained from a group of individual decision makers that are independent from each other. Hence decision makers are weighted in the process of aggregating their priority vectors and the normalized weighted geometric mean method (NWGMM) is used to compute the group's priority vector, which is the final output of the model. © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. Selection and/or peer-review under responsibility of the organizers of ITQM 2015


Abstract Writing in language tests is regarded as an important indicator for assessing language skills of test takers. As Chinese language tests become popular, scoring a large number of essays becomes a heavy and expensive task for the organizers of these tests. In the past several years, some efforts have been made to develop automated simplified Chinese essay scoring systems, reducing both costs and evaluation time. In this paper, we introduce a system called SCESS (automated Simplified Chinese Essay Scoring System) based on Weighted Finite State Automata (WFSA) and using Incremental Latent Semantic Analysis (ILSA) to deal with a large number of essays. First, SCESS uses an n-gram language model to construct a WFSA to perform text pre-processing. At this stage, the system integrates a Confusing-Character Table, a Part-Of-Speech Table, beam search and heuristic search to perform automated word segmentation and correction of essays. Experimental results show that this pre-processing procedure is effective, with a Recall Rate of 88.50%, a Detection Precision of 92.31% and a Correction Precision of 88.46%. After text pre-processing, SCESS uses ILSA to perform automated essay scoring. We have carried out experiments to compare the ILSA method with the traditional LSA method on the corpora of essays from the MHK test (the Chinese proficiency test for minorities). Experimental results indicate that ILSA has a significant advantage over LSA, in terms of both running time and memory usage. Furthermore, experimental results also show that SCESS is quite effective with a scoring performance of 89.50%.


In this study, YBCO thin films on single crystal LaAlO3 (100) substrates have been grown using DC inverted cylindrical magnetron sputtering technique and the effect of the deposition rate on these films is investigated. Three different deposition rates are used to produce superconducting YBCO thin films with 150 nm of thickness on (100) LaAlO3 single crystal substrate at 780 0C. The samples are analyzed in detail by means of XRD, R-T, χ-T, M-H and AFM characterizations and also the critical current densities (Jc) are derived from the magnetic hysteresis curves using the modified Bean formula [1]. The critical current density at 50 K was found to be in the range of 3.107 A/m2 to 8. 107 A/m2 with a deposition rate between 2nm/min and 1.2nm/min. A correlation has been obtained so that as the film deposition rate increases, the surface smoothness and crystalline quality of the films significantly deteriorate, resulting in a significant decrease in Jc.


The serine-threonine kinase AKT plays a pivotal role in tumor progression and is frequently overactivated in cancer cells; this protein is therefore a critical therapeutic target for cancer intervention. We aimed to identify small molecule inhibitors of the pleckstrin homology (PH) domain of AKT to disrupt binding of phosphatidylinositol-3,4,5-trisphosphate (PIP3), thereby downregulating AKT activity. Liposome pulldown assays coupled with fluorescence spectrometry were used to screen flavonoids for inhibition of the AKT PH-PIP3 interaction. Western blotting was used to determine the effects of the inhibitors on AKT activation in cancer cells, and in silico docking was used for structural analysis and optimization of inhibitor structure. Several flavonoids showing up to 50% inhibition of the AKT PH-PIP3 interaction decreased the level of AKT activation at the cellular level. In addition, the modified flavonoid showed increased inhibitory effects and the approach would be applied to develop anticancer drug candidates. In this study, we provide a rationale for targeting the lipid-binding domain of AKT, rather than the catalytic kinase domain, in anticancer drug development.


Performance estimation of enterprise processes is generally performed by using models dedicated to a particular point of view (temporal, financial, etc.). Furthermore this estimation does not take into account the impact of actors competences. This paper presents a new approach which allows to analyse a process considering simultaneously several types of performance taking into account the own characteristics of the actors involved in the process. This approach, which has been developed within an industrial project is illustrated by the way of an example presenting an industrial process.


Analysis of legal and contract documents often requires both the discovery of document structure, as well as the accurate identification of important elements such as party (buyer, supplier), nature (obligation, right) and category (warranties, delivery, etc.). Hence, exploring novel features that lead to better element classification accuracy as well as better document structure discovery is particularly important. In this paper, we develop and present novel unsupervised learning techniques to analyze a large scale corpus of contract documents with the goal of learning and deriving new features to enhance classification accuracy over the elements of interest, and to extract relevant features leading to meaningful clusterings over contract structures. Particularly, we propose a novel t-threshold autoencoder neural network that flexibly controls the number of active neurons in response to sentences of different lengths at the network's input. Such an adaptive sparseness threshold enforces competition and specialization among encoding neurons and hence results in better features learning. We also present an extension of the convolutional neural network classifier that allows for the incorporation of these novel augmented features and show that higher classification accuracies over various classes of contract elements can be achieved. We further present a practical pipeline of deriving features from contract documents along with a clustering solution based on the K-means algorithm that leads to the separation among different types of sentences in the contract documents. We empirically demonstrate the performance of our developed techniques on a novel data corpus of Software Procurement contracts.


The original Ait-Sahalia model of the spot interest rate proposed by Ait-Sahalia assumes constant volatility. As supported by several empirical studies, volatility is never constant in most financial markets. From application viewpoint, it is important we generalise the Ait-Sahalia model to incorporate volatility as a function of delay in the spot rate. In this paper, we study analytical properties for the true solution of this model and construct several new techniques of the truncated Euler-Maruyama (EM) method to study properties of the numerical solutions under the local Lipschitz condition plus Khasminskii-type condition. Finally, we justify that the truncated EM approximate solution can be used within a Monte Carlo scheme for numerical valuations of some financial instruments such as options and bonds.


The Fijian fertility transition occurred between the early 1950s and the 1970s when the birth rate fell by 30%. The 2 major ethnic groups in Fiji are the native Fijians and the Indians. The birth rate declined earlier among the Indians among whom it fell from 240/1000 in 1957 to 170/1000 in 1965 mainly on account of rising marriage age birth spacing and family planning. This study attempts to analyze the effects of socioeconomic variables -- religion education ethnicity work before marriage husbands occupation and region of residence -- on the 3 dependent variables related to fertility transition -- age at 1st marriage length of 1st birth interval and the proportion of women having 4 or more children. A sample of 4928 ever-married women aged 15-49 taken from the 1974 Fiji Fertility Survey formed the study population. A model was used which assesses the real characteristics of the fertility change through an analysis of intracluster correlation matrices. Rural dwellers are 1.25 times more likely to marry by age 20 than are urban dwellers. Indians are 1.23 times likelier than Fijians to marry early. Women who have education and work experience are only 1/2 as likely to be teenage brides as are those with no education and no work experience. This correlation is particularly true for Indians. Hindus and Muslims are slightly likelier than Catholics to delay the 1st birth interval. The likelihood of having more than 3 children by age 30 varies among Indians and Fijians depending on rural or urban residence education and work experience. The importance of recognizing the effects of clustering is that it highlights the differential needs for family planning among different subgroups of the population under different socioeconomic residential and cultural circumstances.


The purpose of this paper is to document the current strategies put in place in Kenya towards the attainment of education for all (EFA) and millennium development goals (MDGs) among nomadic pastoralists the country. The guiding question is how can we dismantle the gender differential jinx hampering attainment of educational equity in Mandera County? The paper uses a combination of secondary and primary data sources. The primary data was obtained from a sample of 45 teachers undertaking their school-based degree programmers at Kenyatta and Mount Kenya Universities. Mixed methods employing both quantitative and qualitative approaches were used to analyze the data. It was found that despite the milestones achieved towards attaining EFA and MDGs in Kenya at the national level, Kenya still faces a number of challenges; some of them have significantly thwarted the possibilities of improving access and quality of education especially in nomadic pastoralist study areas of Mandera County of the country. The critical factors hindering the attainments of the targets include: poverty and the high cost of education as a result of uncontrolled latent user-charges introduced at school level, negative and retrogressive socio-cultural practices that specifically impact on the girl child, un-conducive learning environment due to schools that are not child-friendly, and insecurity among others. It is commended that strategies to dismantle the gender differential jinx in Mandera County should focus more sharply on the girl-child by using instructional techniques favourable to the girl-child, intensify the support to low-cost girls boarding schools and mobile schools to continue educational provision during nomadic shifts by parents, expand child-friendly schools and intensify peace education as well as education in emergency, among others. [256 words ].


In this paper Justice Azahar bin Mohamed (Federal Court Judge, Malaysia; Inns of Court Fellow, Institute of Advanced Legal Studies) gives a brief account of the experience in Malaysia of transforming the judicial landscape with the introduction of new measures to tackle a massive backlog of cases and unacceptable delay in the litigation process. The article focuses on the key initiatives aimed at strengthening judicial systems and procedures, including efforts to address court management systems, procedural rules, and jurisdictional limits of courts and implementation of alternative dispute resolution. Some of the accomplishments and the resulting outcomes of the reforms are highlighted, and the article concludes by setting some future directions which the court should take.