NAD(P)H nitrate reductase (EC 1 . 6 .6 .2 ) from the yeast Candida nitratophila has been purified to electrophoretic homogeneity. The concentrated enzyme has a molecular mass of 365 kDa and consists of four subunits each of 95 kDa, but appears to dissociate into dimers after dilution. The absorption spectrum of the homogeneous protein is typical of a b-type cytochrome and its isoelectric point is pH 5.4. The enzyme utilizes both NADH and NADPH but is more active with NADH. Preincubation of pure enzyme with NAD(P)H and cyanide, but not NAD(P)H and ADP, leads to a reversible redox inactivation of the enzyme. Preincubation with NAD(P)H alone activates the enzyme.


Combinatorially obtained minimal Cantor sets are acquired as the inverse limit of certain directed topological graphs where specific nonnegative integer matrices, called winding matrices, are used to describe the projection between each graph. Examples of non-uniquely ergodic combinatorially obtained minimal Cantor sets first appeared in the 2006 article Algebraic topology for minimal Cantor sets of Gambaudo and Martens and are constructed using winding matrices whose entries grow "fast enough." In this work, we will introduce families of minimal Cantor sets which may be combinatorially obtained in such a way that the corresponding winding matrices possess unbounded entries given by explicit sequences of nonnegative integers. For each of these families, the growth rate needed to achieve either unique or non-unique ergodicity will be specifically addressed and the result will be applied to the case of minimal Cantor sets corresponding to Lorenz maps. We will explore the construction of topological semi-conjugations between combinatorially obtained minimal Cantor sets. Theorems guaranteeing the existence of a topological semi-conjugation between specific families of these sets will be proved and utilized to introduce examples possessing additional intriguing properties. We will also show that there exist both finitely and infinitely nonuniquely ergodic minimal Cantor sets semi-conjugated to an adding machine in such a way that the semi-conjugation map is almost-everywhere injective with respect to the unique ergodic invariant probability measure on the adding machine. Furthermore, we will prove that this construction can be realized by the dynamical system (ω(c), q) where q is a logistic unimodal map with critical point c and omega-limit set ω(c).


Staphylococcus lugdunensis is a member of the coagulase-negative staphylococci (CNS) which has clinical and laboratory characteristics that resemble those of Staphylococcus aureus. The purpose of this study was to investigate the frequencies, microbiological characteristics and antibiotic susceptibilities of S. lugdunensis isolates. Forty-one (41) S. lugdunensis  isolates, which were collected between 2006 and 2009 in our laboratory, were retrospectively included. Twenty-one (21) re-cultured isolates were investigated about several conventional biochemical tests and antibiotic susceptibility tests. The species identification was confirmed by 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Most of S. lugdunensis isolates (71%) were isolated from skin-soft tissue samples. Nine 9(43%) out of 21 isolates were clumping factor positive. All of the isolates were tube coagulase-negative, pyrrolidonyl arylamidase (PYR) and DNase positive. The ornithine decarboxylase (ODC) test, beta-hemolysis and synergistic hemolysis were positive in 19 (90%) isolates. Slime production was found in 5 (24%) isolates. Most isolates were susceptible to the antibiotics tested, although 14% were β-lactamase positive and could be identified by the disk diffusion method for penicillin G. Methicillin resistance and vancomycin tolerance did not detected. S. lugdunensis, is an unusual pathogen which may be can be misidentified with S. aureus by some laboratory characteristics, but which in many instances may be treated with narrow-spectrum antibiotics.

 Key words: Staphylococcus lugdunensis, infection, characteristics, identification, susceptibility.


A leader in developing therapy for AIDS is tragically killed Joep Lange and his partner Jacqueline van Tongeren were among the AIDS experts killed on 17 July 2014 in the downing of the Malaysia Airways plane over eastern Ukraine. They were all on their way to the International AIDS conference in Melbourne, Australia. AIDS was the cause to which Joep dedicated most of his professional life—with inimitable passion, tenacity, and energy. He was my friend for 30 years.


Streptozotocin (SZ) was given to 2-day-old neonatal rats, and, during their subsequent development, the interrelationships between plasma glucose, plasma insulin, pancreatic islet morphology, and hormone content were examined. At 4 days of age, a peak of hyperglycemia was observed (SZ, 349 ± 8 mg/dl versus control (C), 127 ± 2) that was associated with a marked reduction of B-cell numbers (SZ, 26.5 ± 2.6% B-cell per islet versus C, 72.8 ± 0.8%). By 10 days of age the SZ animals became normoglycemic with partial recovery of the B-cell number (SZ, 39.6 ± 2.1% versus C, 64.0 ± 2.6%). By 6 weeks hyperglycemia returned (SZ, 345 ± 5.2 mg/dl versus C, 171 ± 6.2) with B-cell number of the SZ being 72% of the C (SZ, 48.8 ± 2.4% versus C, 67.5 ± 1.5%). This hyperglycemia and reduced B-cell number persisted to at least 13 wk age. Despite a marked reduction of pancreatic insulin content observed during development, there was little effect upon glucagon or somatostatin content. At 6 wk of age, the plasma insulin concentration was only 30% of C, which suggests an insulin secretory defect beyond that which could be accounted for by the modest B-cell reduction. The present study indicates that even though active regeneration of B-celle occurred after early injury, the capacity for ultimate normalization was limited. The resultant moderate reduction in B-cell number may be associated with a functional defect in glucose-stimulated insulin secretion.


We present a novel way to characterize the structure of complex networks by studying the statistical properties of the trajectories of random walks over them. We consider time series corresponding to different properties of the nodes visited by the walkers. We show that the analysis of the fluctuations of these time series allows to define a set of characteristic exponents which capture the local and global organization of a network. This approach provides a way of solving two classical problems in network science, namely the systematic classification of networks, and the identification of the salient properties of growing networks. The results contribute to the construction of a unifying framework for the investigation of the structure and dynamics of complex systems.


Background and objective: Patients admitted to the hospital with suspected acute coronary syndrome (ACS) represent a collective at high risk. The NOWIS substudy aimed at evaluating 3 points: (1) Safe exclusion of myocardial infarction by history, symptoms, biochemical markers and the ECG, (2) value of the first diagnosis by the physician in the emergency room, and (3) prevalence and distribution of non-coronary leading diagnoses.

Patients and methods: In 164 patients admitted with suspected ACS without ST-segment elevation (73 % men, median age 66 years) the cardiac markers myoglobin, troponin T and CK/CK-MB were assessed on admission and 4 h later. In 2 of the NOWIS centers, the diagnosis on admission, derived from the ECG, history and clinical symptoms, was compared with the leading diagnosis at discharge, based on coronary angiography and, if negative, on additional esophago-gastroscopy.

Results: (1) Myoglobin was the biochemical marker with the highest sensitivity 4 h after admission for acute myocardial infarction (»classic« definition by CK-MB elevation) with 90.4 %, followed by troponin T with 84.6 %. Four h after admission, in 15.4 % of the infarction patients (prevalence 31.7 %) troponin T was normal. (2) The admission diagnosis instable angina pectoris was confirmed in 46.7 % (57 of 122), suspected acute infarction in 76.2 % (32 of 42). On the other hand, 90.4 % (57 of 63) of the patients with instable angina as leading diagnosis at discharge were correctly diagnosed on admission, but only 61.5 % (32 of 42) of the patients with infarction. (3) At discharge, 29.9 % (49 of 164) of the patients had a non-coronary leading diagnosis. Here, the most common were gastro-intestinal (55.1 %), costo-vertebral (18.4 %) and broncho-pulmonary (16.3 %).

Conclusions: (1) Troponin and myoglobin are helpful in patients without ST-segment elevation; yet, 4 h after admission, a safe exclusion of myocardial infarction is not possible. (2) The clinical diagnosis on admission is important. However, it corresponds with the leading diagnosis at discharge, based on coronary angiography, in only 50 to 75 %. Patients admitted with suspected ACS should be monitored for 24 h in the hospital (chest pain units or coronary care units). (3) Nearly one third of the patients initially admitted with suspected ACS show a non-coronary leading diagnosis, thus underlining the value of further investigations and of an interdisciplinary approach.


Summary • Has poverty increased or decreased in Sweden during the last two dec-ades? The answer to this question depends on the definition of poverty. In relative terms poverty has increased due to increasing income differ-ences, but in absolute terms poverty has decreased following increasing real incomes. • Between 5 and 11 per cent of the population ended up in absolute po-verty between 1991 and 2007. The proportions were much higher for those living alone, for young adults, and for immigrants, particularly those newly arrived. • Half of the poor leave poverty already the year after entry. The group of poor therefore is composed to a large extent by those who are long-term poor. For those who have once been poor, the risk is high to return to poverty. • Poverty is strongly associated with economic recession and growth. When the macroeconomic conditions are favourable fewer become poor and the persistence in poverty decreases. • Long-term poverty, defined in absolute terms, has decreased but become more concentrated to those living alone and to immigrants. Among immigrants, persistence is higher than among those born in Sweden. • An individual's incomes and risk of poverty are associated with the household incomes during childhood. Those who grow up poor have excess risks for ending up poor as adults. The probability of ending up as high-income earners is much higher for those who grew up under such advantaged conditions themselves as compared to others. • Intergenerational income mobility increased between 1995 and 2005, approximately, but whereas inequality of opportunity thus decreased the economic consequences of the income background grew.


Abstract Background Coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has inundated healthcare systems globally especially resources in intensive care units (ICUs). Tracheostomy may be required in critically ill COVID-19 patients to facilitate weaning and to optimize resources like ventilator and ICU beds. Percutaneous tracheostomy (PCT) has become the standard of care globally in ICUs; however, it is considered a high-risk procedure in COVID-19 patients because of the inherent risk of aerosol generation. Materials and methods Patients with severe COVID-19 who were on mechanical ventilation because of respiratory failure for ≥10 days were evaluated for PCT. We developed a four-step approach from patient selection and timing, preparation, performance, and postprocedure for PCT in these patients. Results We evaluated our four-step protocol in four patients. One of them was non-COVID patient and rest three were COVID patients. The procedure was uneventful in all of the patients with median time of procedure and apnea is 10 minutes 30 seconds and 2 minutes 20 seconds, respectively. The tracheostomy was decannulated in two of these patients and one patient is still on ventilator. Conclusion We believe our four-step protocol for PCT in critically ill COVID-19 patient is simple, safe, and easily adapted in any setting with limited training and available resources. We recommend further studies to evaluate this approach in selected critically ill COVID-19 patients who need tracheostomy. How to cite this article Nasa P, Singh A, Ali A, Patidar S, Georgian A. Percutaneous Tracheostomy in COVID-19 Patients: A Four-step Safe Protocol. Indian J Crit Care Med 2020;24(9):832–834.


Design of Experiments (DoE) is one of the most commonly employed techniques in the petroleum industry for Assisted History Matching (AHM) and uncertainty analysis of reservoir production forecasts. Although conceptually straightforward, DoE is often misused by practitioners because many of its statistical and modeling principles are not carefully followed. Our earlier paper (Li et al. 2019) detailed the best practices in DoE-based AHM for brownfields. However, to our best knowledge, there is a lack of studies that summarize the common caveats and pitfalls in DoE-based production forecast uncertainty analysis for greenfields and history-matched brownfields. Our objective here is to summarize these caveats and pitfalls to help practitioners apply the correct principles for DoE-based production forecast uncertainty analysis.
 Over 60 common pitfalls in all stages of a DoE workflow are summarized. Special attention is paid to the following critical project transitions: (1) the transition from static earth modeling to dynamic reservoir simulation; (2) from AHM to production forecast; and (3) from analyzing subsurface uncertainties to analyzing field-development alternatives. Most pitfalls can be avoided by consistently following the statistical and modeling principles. Some pitfalls, however, can trap experienced engineers. For example, mistakes made in handling the three abovementioned transitions can yield strongly unreliable proxy and sensitivity analysis. For the representative examples we study, they can lead to having a proxy R2 of less than 0.2 versus larger than 0.9 if done correctly. Two improved experimental designs are created to resolve this challenge.
 Besides the technical pitfalls that are avoidable via robust statistical workflows, we also highlight the often more severe non-technical pitfalls that cannot be evaluated by measures like R2. Thoughts are shared on how they can be avoided, especially during project framing and the three critical transition scenarios.


: It has been shown that 1-hour acute immobilization of rats resulted in a decrease of total protein content (per 1 cell) in neurones (by 17% in cytoplasm and 22% in nucleus) of the supraoptic nucleus of the hypothalamus and in their glial satellite cells (by 10%), mainly at the expense of the nuclei of the latter. These changes remained at the same level in the neuronal cytoplasm and satellite cells within 6 hours after cessation of acute immobilization, being abolished in the neuronal nuclei. Deprivation of REM sleep for 24 hours affected these parameters to the same extent as acute immobilization. However, 6-hour rest was sufficient for normalisation in satellite cells and for decrease in protein deficiency in the neuronal nuclei; yet protein deficiency still sustained in the neuronal cytoplasm. REM sleep deprivation was also accompanied by a decrease in tritium incorporation into satellite cell proteins (by 18%); after 3-hour rest, incorporation of the label into satellite cells was restored to the initial level being increased by 20% in neuronal nuclei; another 3-hour rest resulted in normalisation of labeling in the neuronal nuclei and in 27% increase of labeling in the satellite cells.


Creative industries are significantly contribution to economic development, however the  development of    creative industries  are  still  many  problems,  especially human resources, so it has an  impact on the innovation capability. This study aims to examine the effect of quadruple  helix (intellectual, government, business, civil soceity) to enhance the crativity and innovation capability, on sectors of fashion in Central Java. Sampling methods using purposive sampling and data analysis using the Partial Least Square (PLS). The research results     that intellectual, government, business and civil soceity  are  significantly  effect  on     the  creativity.  Intellectuals  and  business  are significantly effect on the innovation capability, but   government and civil soceity not significantly  effect  on  innovation  capability.  Creativity  is  significantly  effect  on innovation capability   Keywords : Quadruple helix, Creativity, Innovation Capability.


The dimension accuracy and the too life are the major issues of the machining of hard-to-cut materials. To fulfill the requirements of accuracy and tool life needs not only well planning of cutting path but also the proper cutting conditions of cutters. The vibration and deflection of cutters caused by poor selection of cutting conditions can be predicted using models of cutting force and tool deflection. In this paper, a cutting force model considering the effect of tool helical angle and a cantilever beam model of tool deflection were proposed for the high speed machining of hard-to-cut material SKD11. The shearing force, the plowing forces, and the helical angle of cutters are considered in the elemental force model. The material of workpiece, SKD11, studied in this paper is commonly used for the die and mold industries. The cutting constants of the proposed force model are determined via the cutting experiments carried out on a high speed machining center. A dynamometer and a high frequency data acquisition system were used to measure the x-, y-, and z-direction cutting forces. The obtained cutting constants were used to predict the cutting forces and compared with the results obtained from the cutting experiment of verification using cutters with different helical angles. The theoretical and the experimental cutting forces in the x-, y-, and z- direction are in good agreement using flat cutters with 30 and 45 degrees of helical angle. The dimension deviations of the cut surface in the cutting experiment case of tool deflection were measured using a touch probe and an infrared receiver installed on the machining center. The measured average dimension deviation, 0.163mm, is close to the predicted tool deflection, 0.153mm, using the proposed cantilever beam model. The comparisons of the cutting forces and the average of the cut surface dimension deviation are in good agreement and verify the proposed cutting force and the tool deflection models are feasible and useful.


Totten, Virgil M.S.E.C.E., Purdue University, May 2008. Application of Vehicle Detector Waveforms in Vehicle Re-Identification and Evaluating Detector Installation Performance. Major Professor: James V. Krogmeier. Vehicle detectors in arterial roads and highways have long been used by the transportation management community for the purposes of determining vehicle presence at stop bars and traffic volume at a single point in a traffic stream. Advanced analysis of vehicle detectors and the waveforms they produce has recently become an area of increased interest in the transportation community. In this thesis, several applications of the waveforms produced by vehicle detectors will be explored. Presently there is limited testing performed to evaluate a detector installation. By using vehicle signatures captured from vehicle detector waveforms, it is possible perform a more robust evaluation of detector installations. Several metrics for determining installation performance are presented. Determining the travel time of a traffic stream over a significant distance is a much sought after goal by the transportation community. Vehicle signatures provide the foundation for a correlation based method of re-identifying vehicles over significant distances using existing transportation management infrastructure. Through the application of this vehicular re-identification, along with selective filtering of the data, it becomes possible to accurately determine, and track, the travel time of a traffic stream.


Although substantial shareholders are often considered quasi-insiders, not much is known about the information they possess, especially around changes in corporate control events. We examine whether substantial shareholders in target firms possess information about future takeover activity and if they have such information, whether they trade opportunistically on it. The results show increased purchases by substantial shareholders close to a takeover announcement where these trades predict the likelihood of takeovers. However, they do not predict bid premiums nor other deal characteristics. A comparison of different types of substantial shareholders indicates that institutional shareholder trades are better indicators of takeover likelihood relative to the trades of managerial shareholders. These findings imply that substantial shareholders are indeed quasi insiders who have an informational advantage over other shareholders about future takeover activity and they use this advantage for their own benefit.


One of the most significant demographic changes of the twenty first century is the aging of the world's population. Population ageing or the increasing proportion of older population has become a challenge not only for developed countries but developing ones as well. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the participation of the older population in rural Malaysia in the economic activities. This paper also seek to analyze reasons why some of the older population in the area do not want to continue working. The design used in this study was a combination of the sociological method of face-to-face interviews, and the anthropological method of participant-observation. Results show that nearly half of the respondents still involve in economic activities whilst majority of them do not work because they feel no strong desire for working and are not physically capable.


Research into the impact of erosion on soil productivity - primarily as determined by crop yield - was reviewed. Losses in productivity seem to be most prevalent on intrinsically less productive soils and under low-input management. Yield decline was exponential, this applied both to yield over time, at a point in space, as erosion proceeded; and also to yield at a point in time, in relation to spatial variations in past erosion. -from Author


We prepared several series of PIB gels starting from butyl rubber in dilute toluene solutions using sulfur monochloride as a cross-linking agent. By using solution and suspension cross-linking techniques, PIB gels in the form of rods or beads in the size range of 0.1−2 mm were prepared and subjected to swelling in solvent−nonsolvent mixtures. The swelling capacity of the gels in toluene increased with decreasing concentration of sulfur monochloride or butyl rubber in the organic phase. The solubility parameter of the solution cross-linked PIB gels was found to be 16.8 ± 0.8 MPa0.5, in accord with the reported value for bulk cross-linked gels. In toluene−methanol mixtures, PIB gels with 4% cross-linker content exhibited an abrupt deswelling when the toluene content of the external solution was decreased from 97 to 90%. By using the theory of equilibrium swelling, it was shown that the gel passes through critical conditions as the quality of the solvent becomes poorer.


There were better economic and social benefits which the construction wastes were the raw materials of weak foundation treatment. The cast-in-place expanded piles of construction waste showed the advantages of the dynamic replacement and compaction replacement. In the paper, the mechanism, design, construction technology and inspection of weak foundation treatment were studied. The result showed that the cast-in-place expanded piles of construction waste not only could save the cost in the waste transportation, but also decrease the cost in the foundation reinforcement and avoid the land contamination.


The ECJ has not so far developed a single, consistent approach to cases in which the right to access official documents is exercised by individuals and organisations pursuing their individual cause (private watchdogs). While in some cases the Luxembourg jurisprudence has followed a restrictive approach, supporting interests and secondary law provisions conflicting with transparency, in other it has unconditionally endorsed a supreme character of the access right. This contribution confronts both of the approaches whenever the access right exercised by private watchdogs has clashed with confidentiality stemming from secondary law provisions: from state aid, staff rules, data protection, antitrust and beyond. The article argues that most often the judicial standard restricting the access right interferes with a feedback relationship between transparency, accountability and the rule of law. This relationship, when properly construed and appraised, may form a basis for an arguably more uniform and stable judicial standard.


Brain function relies on a precisely coordinated and dynamic balance between the functional integration and segregation of distinct networks. Characterizing the way in which brain regions reconfigure their interactions to give rise to distinct but hidden brain states remains an open challenge. In this thesis, novel Bayesian methods are developed for identifying the states and transitions of dynamic functional brain networks and estimating the community structure of the group-level discrete brain states.


The incidence of oral cancer is increasing worldwide. Patients with oral cancer have low survival rate compared with other cancer in the body. This is mainly because of the delay in the diagnosis, spread of tumormetastasis, and and thereby leading to secondary tumors. For the dental profession, it is really challenging and highly important to diagnose oral precancer or oral cancer, particularly in its early stage of the disease. Early screening and advanced diagnostic tool play an important role in the early diagnosis and treatment planning of patients suffering from oral cancer. This article reviews the chair side diagnostic aids as a tool for early detection of oral cancer. The article also emphasis on the role of general dentist and their importance in the early detection of oral cancer. Therefore every general dental practitioner should be aware of recent advances in diagnosis, in order to provide a high level of care among patients suspected with cancerous or pre-cancerous lesions .


Four new automatic query expansion strategies based on UMLS Metathesaurus are proposed to improve the effectiveness of health information retrieval: String index with Concept expansion (SC), String index with Term expansion (ST), Word index with Concept expansion (WC), and Word index with Term expansion (WT). Results from a comparison evaluation study using Medline plus dataset indicated that 1) the Mean Average Precisions (MAPs) with termlevel expansion are higher than those with concept level by 5.6% for 30 queries and 10.9% for short queries; 2) the MAPs based on the string index strategy are better than those based on the word index by 15.5% for 30 queries and 9.6% for short queries; and 3) the String index with Term expansion (ST) has the highest MAPs for both 30 queries and short queries. These results will help us better understand the effectiveness of different automatic query expansion strategies using UMLS Metathesaurus and further inform the design of future Healthcare IR system.


This article draws mostly on new institutional economics to consider the likely behaviours of non-government conservation organizations and the implications of these behaviours for biodiversity conservation. It considers how institutional factors may result in behaviour of conservation NGOs diverging from their objectives, including their support for biodiversity conservation; examines aspects of rent capture and conservation alliances; specifies social factors that may restrict the diversity of species supported by NGOs for conservation; considers bounded rationality in relation to the operation of conservation NGOs; and using game theory, shows how competition between NGOs for funding can result in economic inefficiencies and narrow the diversity of species supported for conservation. It also considers generally how the social role of conservation NGOs should be assessed.


Assuming the similarity of the processes of illegitimate recombination, such as deletion formation, with the process of F' plasmid formation, we have undertaken the study of the influence of recA- and seg- alleles of Hfr donor on the F' plasmid formation. The data obtained demonstrate the strong influence of donor genotype on the frequency of F' plasmid formation and on the nature of F' plasmids formed, thus demonstrating that the most of F' plasmids have been formed via recombination in Hfr donor cells. The recA- mutation decreased the total yield of F' plasmids selected using both proximal and distal Hfr markers and affected drastically the distribution of the F' plasmids inheriting different proximal unselected markers. The existence of recA-dependent and recA-independent modes of F' plasmid formation was demonstrated. The Escherichia coli chromosome contains regions which involve preferentially in recA-dependent (between proA and gal, and clockwise from gal) or recA-independent (between leu and proA, and the region counterclockwise from argE) recombination. The seg-2 mutation causes only partial block of both recA-dependent and recA-independent recombination pathways, however it causes dramatic decrease of genetic exchanges leading to the formation of the type II F' plasmids. Both seg- and recA- mutations decrease the frequency of the formation of Tra+ F' transconjugants. The percent of Tra- transconjugants, which remain sensitive to MS2 and Q beta donor specific phages, also drops significantly under the influence of the recA- and seg- alleles. Thus, the recombination involving the F structure in wild type strains and seg- mutants occures preferentially in the points of F outside the regions essential for transfer and sensitivity to male specific phages, while in recA- and recA-ges- strains the points inside these regions (tra operon) frequently involved in F' plasmid looping out. There exist more strict correlation between the fertility and sensitivity to phage Q beta than to phage MS2.


The relevance of the studies to sewer corrosion and the important practical problem of predicting sulphide generation rates within sewers is discussed in the introduction section of the paper. The predictive equations presently in use are compared, and the desirability of replacing these empirical equations by a more scientific approach based on an analysis of mass transport and biochemical reaction is stressed. A theoretical analysis of mass transport and metabolism of sulphate during laminar flow in a model sewer will be discussed. This theoretical section will precede the description of the laboratory experimental studies. These studies consisted of flowing simulated sewage through tubes containing biofilms of mixed cultures of sulphate reducing bacteria. The results obtained in the laboratory studies showed that the diffusional resistance in the liquid phase was negligible and that the biological conversion of sulphate to sulphide followed zero order kinetics when mass transfer was not rate limiting. The observed sulphate removal rates gave good agreement with Australian field data for sulphide generation in sewers. The value of the zero order rate constant (measured at 41degreesC) was 30 mg cm-3 h-1.


An efficient verifiable implicit asking (VIA) protocol for Diffie-Hellman key exchange and its improvement are proposed. The proposed protocol utilizes an existing efficient implicit asking protocol for secret computation of RSA cryptosystem. The structure of the proposed protocol makes it resistant to both active and passive attacks. An known passive attack that decreases efficiency is not applied to the proposed protocol and the efficiency of the existing protocol is not sacrificed. When the required security is determined as the complexity in exhaustive searching of $2^{112}$, the proposed protocol can execute Diffie-Hellman key exchange with $108$ modular multiplications.


The Muon Portal is a recent Project [1] which aims at the construction of a 18 m2 tracking detector for cosmic muons. This apparatus has been designed as a real-size prototype to inspect containers using the muon tomography technique, i.e. by measuring the deflection of muons when traversing high-Z materials. The detection setup is based on eight position-sensitive X-Y planes, four placed below and four above the volume to be inspected, with good tracking capabilities for charged particles. The detection planes are segmented into strips of extruded plastic scintillators with WLS fibres to transport the light produced in the scintillator material to the photo-sensors (SiPMs) at one of the fibre ends. Detailed GEANT4 simulations have been carried out under different scenarios to investigate the response of the apparatus. The tomographic images are reconstructed by tracking algorithms and suitable imaging software tools. Simulations have demonstrated the possibility to reconstruct a 3D image of the volume to be inspected in a reasonable amount of time, compatible with the requirement of a fast inspection technique. The first two of the 48 detection modules are presently under construction.


Smartphones with sensors such as accelerometer and gyroscope can be used as pedometers and navigators. In this paper, we propose to use an LSTM recurrent network for counting the number of steps taken by both blind and sighted users, based on an annotated smartphone sensor dataset, WeAllWork. The models were trained separately for sighted people, blind people with a long cane or a guide dog for Leave-One-Out training modality. It achieved 5% overcount and undercount rate.


Human libraries are events intended to provide readers with access to the knowledge and lived experiences of their fellow community members. These events are growing in popularity worldwide, and while often hosted by traditional libraries, can take place in a variety of community organization settings. Human library events depend on the services of the "human books" who volunteer to participate, though recruitment of these volunteers remains one of the most challenging aspects of hosting the events. Previous work has shown that human books enjoy participation in these events, though the specific benefits of human libraries for the human books have not been explored. In this study, we analyze the post‐event survey responses of human books from four different human library events hosted by various institutions. Participants reported a variety of benefits ranging from altruistic to more self‐focused. Reviewing their responses, we suggest eight major categories of benefits for human books. Findings hold implications for effectively recruiting and motivating potential human books, as well as how host institutions may adapt human libraries to the needs of their communities.


Dividend policy determines the ratio between the earnings distributed to shareholders and the earnings retained in the company. Even though retained earnings are one of the most important funding sources used for financing corporate growth, the accrued dividends represent stakeholders' cash flows. Should the cash be reinvested in business operations or should it be paid out to investors in equity? The decision might seem simple, but it provokes a surprising number of controversies. Despite thorough theoretical and empirical analyses aimed to explain their omnipresence, dividends remain one of the biggest puzzles in corporate finances. This paper starts by determining the term of dividend and stating the types of dividends. This is followed by a discussion on dividend policy and optimal dividend policy and an analysis of factors that managers should have in mind when forming dividend policy. Considerable attention is given to the leading dividend theories which try to answer the question about the role of dividends in maximizing the value of a corporation, as well as to practical instructions offered to managers in an attempt to achieve this goal. Other related issues are also discussed, such as dividend reinvestment plans, stock dividends, and share repurchase. Finally, two surveys are presented. The aim of conducting the surveys was to determine the attitudes of managers on dividend policy and to identify factors which the managers viewed as decisive when establishing a concrete dividend policy.


This paper deals with the wrench-feasible workspace (WFW) of n-degree-of-freedom parallel robots driven by n or more than n cables. The WFW is the set of mobile platform poses for which the cables can balance any wrench of a given set of wrenches, such that the tension in each cable remains within a prescribed range. Requirements of nonnegative cable tensions, as well as maximum admissible tensions, are thus satisfied. The determination of the WFW is an important issue since its size and shape are highly dependent on the geometry of the robot and on the ranges of allowed cable tensions. The approach proposed in this paper is mainly based on interval analysis. Two sufficient conditions are presented, namely, a sufficient condition for a box of poses to be fully inside the WFW and a sufficient condition for a box of poses to be fully outside the WFW. These sufficient conditions are relevant since they can be tested, with the means to test them being discussed in the paper. Used within usual branch-and-prune algorithms, these tests enable WFW determinations in which full-dimensional sets of poses (volumes) are found to lie within or, on the contrary, to lie outside the WFW. This provides a useful alternative to a basic discretization, the latter consisting of testing a discrete (zero-dimensional) finite set of poses. In order to improve the efficiency of the computations, a means to mitigate the undesirable effects of the so-called wrapping effect is introduced. The paper also illustrates how the proposed approach is capable of dealing with small uncertainties on the geometric design parameters of a parallel cable-driven robot.


Methods for analyzing geographic clusters of disease typically ignore the space-time variability inherent in epidemiologic datasets, do not adequately account for known risk factors (e.g., smoking and education) or covariates (e.g., age, gender, and race), and do not permit investigation of the latency window between exposure and disease. Our research group recently developed Q-statistics for evaluating space-time clustering in cancer case-control studies with residential histories. This technique relies on time-dependent nearest neighbor relationships to examine clustering at any moment in the life-course of the residential histories of cases relative to that of controls. In addition, in place of the widely used null hypothesis of spatial randomness, each individual's probability of being a case is instead based on his/her risk factors and covariates. Case-control clusters will be presented using residential histories of 220 bladder cancer cases and 440 controls in Michigan. In preliminary analyses of this dataset, smoking, age, gender, race and education were sufficient to explain the majority of the clustering of residential histories of the cases. Clusters of unexplained risk, however, were identified surrounding the business address histories of 10 industries that emit known or suspected bladder cancer carcinogens. The clustering of 5 of these industries began in the 1970's and persisted through the 1990's. This systematic approach for evaluating space-time clustering has the potential to generate novel hypotheses about environmental risk factors. These methods may be extended to detect differences in space-time patterns of any two groups of people, making them valuable for security intelligence and surveillance operations.


Alkali-silica reaction (ASR) can cause serious cracking in concrete. The best method in order to avoid the occurrence of ASR is the non-use of reactive aggregate in concrete production. However, reactive aggregates in quarries must be used for the sustainable usage of resources. Therefore, a more practical approach is to identify the optimal blending of such aggregates, which can be achieved through the use of the Design of Experiment-Mixture Design Method (DOE-MD). In this study, empirical approaches that can be used for ASR estimation are suggested using DOE-MD in a quarry that produces concrete aggregate and has reactive and nonreactive aggregate resources in terms of ASR and by determining aggregate mixing ratios that do not create risk in terms of ASR. The quarry in question has three different regions, which are in terms of the type of aggregate available. As a result, the aggregate from Region 2 should be used at 19 % (Region 3: 81 %) in the mixture with aggregate from Region 3. The aggregate from Region 1 should not be mixed with the aggregate from Region 2 and should be used at most at 14 % (Region 3: 86 %) in the mixture with the aggregate from Region 3.


Brazilian spotted fever (BSF), caused by Rickettsia rickettsii, is endemic in the municipality of Americana, southeastern Brazil, where the disease is transmitted by the tick Amblyomma cajennense. This study evaluated the tick fauna and rickettsial infection in free-living ticks that were captured monthly using dry ice traps in areas endemic for BSF in Americana, from July 2009 to June 2010. Two tick species were captured: A. cajennense (6,122 larvae; 4,265 nymphs; 2,355 adults) and Amblyomma dubitatum (7,814 larvae; 3,364 nymphs; 1,193 adults). The immature stages of A. cajennense and A. dubitatum had similar distribution through the 12-month period, with larvae of both species collected in highest numbers between April and July, and nymphs between June and October. The highest numbers of A. cajennense adults were collected between October and December, whereas A. dubitatum adults were collected in relatively similar numbers throughout the 12-month period. Rickettsial infection was evaluated by means of PCR in 1,157 A. cajennense and 1,040 A. dubitatum ticks; only 41 (3.9%) A. dubitatum were found to be infected by Rickettsia bellii. The present study showed that the areas of Americana that are endemic for BSF are characterized by high environmental burdens of A. cajennense and A. dubitatum.


BRAF V600E is the most common mutation in cutaneous melanomas, and has been described in 30-72% of such cases. This mutation results in the substitution of valine for glutamic acid at position 600 of the BRAF protein, which consequently becomes constitutively activated. The present study investigated the BRAF V600E mutation frequency and its clinical implications in a group of 77 primary cutaneous melanoma patients treated in a cancer reference center in Brazil. Mutation analysis was accomplished by polymerase chain reaction, restriction fragment length polymorphism, and automated DNA sequencing. The chi-squared and Fischer exact tests were used for comparative analyses. The BRAF V600E mutation was detected in 54/77 (70.1%) melanoma subjects. However, no statistically significant association was found between the presence of the mutation and clinical or prognostic parameters. Our results demonstrated that the BRAF V600E mutation is a common event in melanomas, representing an important molecular target for novel therapeutic approaches in such tumors.


Based on pressure swing adsorption, Proportion Pressure Swing Adsorption (PPSA), a new enrichment method with high safety, was suggested to enrich the low concentration coal bed gas. A mixture of active carbon (CA) and carbon molecular sieve (CMS) was employed as adsorbent in the process of PPSA. The methane and oxygen in coal bed gas were adsorbed simultaneously. The experimental study was carried out in order to verify the feasibility of this method. The equilibrium adsorption characteristic of CA and CMS were tested. The results showed that both concentrations of CH4 and O2 in desorption gas could be controlled well and would not exceed the explosion limit in enrichment process by adjusting the mass ratio of CMS5/AC1. Therefore, the new method, PPSA, can guarantee the safety in enrichment of coal bed methane.


Hot holes are injected from the anode and trapped in thin silicon dioxide using constant voltage stress at large gate voltage. By comparing oxides having trapped holes with oxides in which the holes were detrapped, it is shown that the presence of trapped holes does not affect the breakdown of the oxide. Furthermore, as the temperature during stress is increased, less hole trapping is observed whereas the charge-to-breakdown of the oxide is decreased. The results show that although the trapping of hot holes injected using anode hole injection (AHI) may be partly responsible for defect generation in silicon dioxide, breakdown cannot be limited by the number of holes trapped in the oxide.


The American marten (Martes americana) is a small, slender-bodied, carnivorous mammal found throughout the northern portion of North America. Our study focused on the populations in the Manistee National Forest in Michigan's Lower Peninsula and the Hiawatha National Forest in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. Food availability is a large limiting factor to American marten populations due to their high metabolism and low fat storage. This can be especially important for lactating females that may have up to five kits to sustain. Kit-rearing female martens were fitted with radio collars and radio telemetry was used to track them to den sites. Scat, prey remains and remotely-triggered cameras were used to identify diet components. We sought to obtain an understanding of reproducing female marten diets in order to maintain optimal marten habitat. We observed martens behaving as generalists, consuming many types of prey. Small prey were consumed more often, but large prey provided the majority of their caloric intake. Gray squirrels were especially important prey for lactating females. We documented consumption of eastern moles and the delivery of multiple prey to the den at the same time, both previously unreported for this species. This is novel research that can be used by the Little River Band of Ottawa Indians, the Sault Sainte Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians, the United States Forest Service and the Michigan Department of Natural Resources to manage for marten habitat in Michigan.


Ruthenium is the most effective catalyst reported to date for ammonia synthesis under mild conditions, especially when an electron promoter is used. However, electron donation from the promoter has not been sufficient because the promoter contacts with Ru only through its surface. Here, we report a Laves phase intermetallic bulk catalyst, YRu2, which has higher electron density on Ru. This is derived from large electron transfer from Y to Ru, which is first confirmed by X-ray absorption fine structure measurements and theoretical calculations. In addition, YRu2 has high hydrogen solubilities leading to suppression of hydrogen poisoning, a common drawback of Ru-based catalysts. Consequently, YRu2 exhibits higher catalytic activity for ammonia synthesis over 300 times that with pure ruthenium. The present results suggest a simple concept for ammonia synthesis: Laves phase intermetallic compounds of Ru and more electropositive metals are more efficient catalysts than pure Ru because of the large electron pro...


The research aimed to investigate the current cultural stance and the attitudes of prospective EFL teachers towards culture teaching. For this purpose, 200 teacher candidates (73 males 127 females) studying at a teacher training program of a state university were involved in the study. A demographic information form and two questionnaires were used to collect the data. The participants' cultural intelligence profile was assessed under four sub-dimensions. Statistical analyses such as descriptive statistics, independent samples T-tests, Pearson Correlations, and ANOVA were used in analyzing the quantitative data. According to the results of the study, EFL student teachers had positive attitudes towards teaching culture in foreign language classes. They were also seen to have varying degrees of cultural intelligence. As for the effect of gender, age, and the year of the study at the faculty, the analyses revealed that gender and age were not related significantly to the attitudes towards culture teaching and cultural intelligence. The year of the study at the faculty seemed to have a significant relationship with the attitudes towards culture teaching and cultural intelligence. The last two years of undergraduate study at the ELT departments were seen to be significant on prospective EFL teachers' culturalist or interculturalist stances. Finally, the researchers discovered a positive relationship between prospective teachers' attitudes towards culture teaching and their meta-cognitive, motivational, and behavioral dimensions of cultural intelligence. Some recommendations were presented for future researchers and practitioners relying on the research findings.


A sensitive and specific gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) method using selected ion monitoring (SIM) has been developed for quantification of pentazocine in urine. This method uses solid-solid extraction (SPE) and N, O-bis (trimethylsilyl) trifluoroacetamide with 1% trimethylchlorosilane derivatization, followed by GC-MS analysis using dextromethorphan as the internal standard. The method was linear between 125 and 1500 ng/mL (r^2=0.997). The limit of quantification and limit of detection were 125 and 62.5 ng/mL, respectively. The intraday accuracy and precision were -6.3~4.7% and 3.6~11.2%, respectively. The interday accuracy and precision were -7.5~7.0% and 6.2~10.0%, respectively. These data showed that the GC-MS method was suitable for the determination of pentazocine in urine. This method was further applied to an interlaboratory study. The collaborative study was given by the Association of Official Analytical Chemists International (AOAC International). Nine drug abuse urine testing laboratories in Taiwan participated to analyze 3 samples in duplicate. The repeatability relative standard deviation (RSDr) and reproducibility relative standard deviation (RSDR) values were 3.0~5.2% and 6.8~10.3%, respectively. The method showed acceptable reproducibility, as evidenced by HORRAT values of 1.1 to 1.5. The method recommended for use by the drug abuse urine testing laboratories in Taiwan.


Abstract. Here, we present a compilation of 95 ice temperature profiles from 85 boreholes from the Greenland ice sheet and peripheral ice caps, as well as local ice caps in the Canadian Arctic. Profiles from only 31 boreholes (36 %) were previously available in open-access data repositories. The remaining 54 borehole profiles (64 %) are being made digitally available here for the first time. These newly available profiles, which are associated with pre-2010 boreholes, have been submitted by community members or digitized from published graphics and/or data tables. All 95 profiles are now made available in both absolute (meters) and normalized (0 to 1 ice thickness) depth scales and are accompanied by extensive metadata. These metadata include a transparent description of data provenance. The ice temperature profiles span 70 years, with the earliest profile being from 1950 at Camp VI, West Greenland. To highlight the value of this database in evaluating ice flow simulations, we compare the ice temperature profiles from the Greenland ice sheet with an ice flow simulation by the Parallel Ice Sheet Model (PISM). We find a cold bias in modeled near-surface ice temperatures within the ablation area, a warm bias in modeled basal ice temperatures at inland cold-bedded sites, and an apparent underestimation of deformational heating in high-strain settings. These biases provide process level insight on simulated ice temperatures.


This paper proposes a probabilistic method for power system security assessment, usingBayes classifier. The Bayes classifier, one of data classification tools, can apply to the power systemreliability area for calculations such as probabilistic security indices. The determination of securitybreach is a cumbersome and time-consuming process due to consideration of dynamic and steadystate effects. The straight Monte Carlo simulation, one of the commonly used methods in powersystem reliability, requires evaluation of each sampled state and can result in high computationtime. Once joint probability density of feature vectors is obtained, the Bayes classifier providesassessment of system security without complicated contingency analyses and can reduce thecomputational burden. Security status of a given feature vector can be determined by a Bayes rule,which can be implemented in power system reliability studies.


Through Freire's notion of praxis (1985, p.119) which gives centrality to critical self reflection in teaching toward social justice, in this paper I reflect on recently collected narratives gleaned from working with pre-service teachers. These stories reveal the unexpected rewards of seeking to create a prevailing culture of listening and respect for students' unique perspectives. They also illustrate the challenges involved, in maintaining my own inward consciousness of self and place while cultivating this kind of milieu in the classroom. Within this dynamic tension in which both teacher and students learn from each other, there are tremendous possibilities to accept, affirm and confirm emerging teacher identities with the kind of sensibilities that are critically awakened to injustice and empowered as "beings of praxis" (Freire, 1985, p.112) in their own write.


Fiction Acquisition/Fiction Management: Education and Training provides librarians and library managers with the most current information on how to successfully maintain or start a fiction collection that serves the needs of your patrons. You will learn about suggestions for further education of your library staff, such as calling on the American Library Association to create collection workshops and publish "how-to" articles to help small to medium sized libraries build a successful fiction collection. Through guidelines, procedures, interviews, and research, this text will help you efficiently manage existing fiction collections or develop an up-to-date collection for your library. Whether you are a collection librarian at a public or academic library, Fiction Acquisition/Fiction Management will guide you through the training and education process of your staff and offer you the most efficient and economical way to start a fiction collection. In addition, this book provides insight into: selecting materials through budgeting, collection development, and weeding how WLN conspectus software can help you decide what book selections are most marketable at your public or university library building a useful collection by working at the circulation desk, listening to suggestions from patrons, and using book reviews as a minimal criteria for selection interviews with collection librarians about maintaining their fiction collections a listing of sources, such as specific databases, that will help you collect specific genres, such as anti-theory fiction If you would like to improve your library's fiction section and attract more clientele, Fiction Acquisition/Fiction Management will help you achieve this goal. Direct, informative, and up-to-date, this book will successfully start your collection or make an existing one complete.... Download ebook, read file pdf Education and Training


Enhancement of Brønsted acidity in silica-titania aerogel was achieved by loading both sulfate and vanadium onto the material. This phenomena could be due to formation of V(OSi)2OH-O-SO3- in the resulted sample. In contrast, no noticeable Brønsted acidity was detected in vanadium loaded silica-titania aerogel (V/ST). UV-vis DR analysis results showed that the amount of hydrated tetrahedral titanium species, which acts as oxidative site, increased significantly upon sulfation and vanadium loading on the surface of the aerogel. However, presence of vanadium in the samples tended to transform framework tetrahedral titanium to extra framework octahedral titanium structure. The catalytic performance of the samples were evaluated in consecutive transformation of 1-octene to 1,2-octanediol through formation of 1,2-epoxyoctane using aqueous H2O2.


Abstract. Organised cloud bands are important features of tropical and subtropical rainfall. These structures are often regarded as convergence zones, alluding to an association with coherent atmospheric flow. However, the flow kinematics is not usually taken into account in classification methods for this type of event, as large-scale lines are rarely evident in instantaneous diagnostics such as Eulerian convergence. Instead, existing convergence zone definitions rely on heuristic rules of shape, duration and size of cloudiness fields. Here we investigate the role of large-scale turbulence in shaping atmospheric moisture in South America. We employ the Finite-Time Lyapunov Exponent (FTLE), a metric of deformation among neighboring trajectories, to define convergence zones as attracting Lagrangian Coherent Structures (LCSs). Attracting LCSs frequent tropical and subtropical South America, with climatologies consistent with the South Atlantic Convergence Zone (SACZ), the South American Low-level Jet (SALLJ) and the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ). In regions under the direct influence of the ITCZ and the SACZ, rainfall is significantly positively correlated with large-scale mixing measured by the FTLE. Attracting LCSs in South and Southeast Brazil are associated with significant positive rainfall and moisture flux anomalies. Geopotential height composites suggest that the occurrence of attracting LCSs in these regions is related with teleconnection mechanisms such as the Pacific-South Atlantic. We believe that this kinematical approach can be used as an alternative to region-specific convergence zone classification algorithms; it may help advance the understanding of underlying mechanisms of tropical and subtropical rain bands and their role in the hydrological cycle.


In this paper we describe the design of a Fuzzy Logic Controller (FLC) for controlling Available Bit Rate (ABR) traffic in ATM networks. ABR traffic is carried when ever bandwith is available after carrying Variable Bit Rate (VBR) and Constant Bit Rate (CBR) traffic. Although such FLCs have been previously described in the research litera ture, many of them use synthetic data and trial and error to tune them. Our work is different since we used extensive simulation and real MPEG data to generate input-output data for the optimal design of the FLC. Our design also ensures that the output of the FLC is symmetrical. We tested our design on several aggregations of real MPEG data and we found out that the output of the FLC was perfectly symmetrical and system utilization was close to 100%.


OBJECTIVE
We aimed to compare the different non-motor symptoms of different motor phenotype Parkinson's disease (PD) at an early stage.

PATIENTS AND METHODS
From January 2013 to November 2016, 120 cases of PD patients who were hospitalized in Neurology Department of the First Hospital of Huai'an in Jiangsu Province and 120 cases of healthy controls with matched age and gender, were included into the research. PD patients were administered with Non-Motor symptom questionnaire (NMSQuest), the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale III (UPDRS-III), the Mini-Mental State Examination score (MMSE), the Hoehn-Yahr classification, the MoCA, and GDS-15. The relationship between NMS burden and PD subtypes, age, gender and disease severity were examined using linear regression models. The prevalence of each NMS among different PD motor subtypes was analyzed using x2 test.

RESULTS
Compared with the healthy controls, PD patients had a higher number of NMS. The prevalence of NMS in postural instability gait difficulty (PIGD) group is higher than that in tremor dominant (TD) group. There is no significant correlation between age, gender, MMSE scores, MoCA scores and the number of NMS. PD patients with higher UPDRS-III scores and a longer course of disease had a higher prevalence of NMS.

CONCLUSIONS
NMS is also common in PD patients at an early stage. The PIGD group who have more axial injuries and more severe motor symptoms, have a higher risk of NMS burden than PD patients in TD group.


Robert Schofield explores the rational elements of British experimental natural philosophy in the 18th century by tracing the influence of two opposing concepts of the nature of matter and its action-mechanism and materialism. Both concepts rested on the Newtonian interpretation of their proponents, although each developed more or less independently. By integrating the developments in all the areas of experimental natural philosophy, describing their connections and the influences of Continental science, natural theology, and to a lesser degree social and institutional changes, the author demonstrates that mechanistic concepts dominated interpretations from about 1687 to 1740, when they were replaced by materialistic concepts. A revival of the mechanistic approach early in the next century made England a fertile field for ideas on the dynamic interaction of forces. Originally published in 1970. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.


ABSTRACT The current study examines the social media use of Swedish municipalities, detailing the potential relationship between traditional forms of e-government initiatives and social media engagement of municipal bodies. By bringing these two forms of digital politics together, a more valid measurement of the supply of online democratic tools for citizen engagement is suggested. Moreover, the potential variation in determinants influencing these two concepts is examined as well. The main results indicate that municipalities' adoption of social media is related to the procuration of more traditional services through their Web sites. Hence, a tendency of a "rich-get-richer" effect is indicated. In this respect, drivers of the different types of government use of digital services are to some extent similar. According to previous research, population size has a positive effect on the studied phenomena. Somewhat surprisingly, however, other explanatory factors differ. For example, although socioeconomic factors appear to have a positive influence on more traditional forms of online services, previous ambitions of e-government development appear as important for social media adoption by municipalities.


Background: Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) can occur in both adults and children/adolescents. Untreated PTSD can lead to negative long-term mental health conditions such as depression, anxiety, low self-concept, disruptive behaviors, and/or substance use disorders. To prevent these adverse effects, treatment of PTSD is essential, especially in young population due to their greater vulnerability. The principal aim of this meta-analysis was to examine the efficacy of eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) therapy for PTSD symptoms in children and adolescents. Secondary objectives were to assess whether EMDR therapy was effective to improve depressive or anxious comorbid symptoms. Methods: We conducted a thorough systematic search of studies published until January 2017, using PubMed, Medline, Scopus, and ScienceDirect as databases. All randomized controlled trials with an EMDR group condition compared to a control group, such as treatment as usual or another psychological treatment, were included. Meta-analysis was conducted with MetaNSUE to avoid biases related to missing information. Results: Eight studies (n = 295) met our inclusion criteria. EMDR therapy was superior to waitlist/placebo conditions and showed comparable efficacy to cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) in reducing post-traumatic and anxiety symptoms. A similar but non-statistically significant trend was observed for depressive symptoms. Exploratory subgroup analyses showed that effects might be smaller in studies that included more males and in more recent studies. Conclusion: Despite the small number of publications, the obtained results suggest that EMDR therapy could be a promising psychotherapeutic approach for the treatment of PTSD and comorbid symptoms in young individuals. However, further research with larger samples is needed to confirm these preliminary results as well as to analyze differences in the efficacy of EMDR therapy versus CBT.


Measure the test points of the natural frequencies, the Fourier amplitude spectrum, power spectrum and other parameters by enter different types and frequencies of seismic waves and the stimulation of white noise in the pile shaking table test and seismic wave propagation in the model pipe. Analysis of the transfer law of seismic waves in the pipe pile-pile cap-superstructure lead to the dynamic characteristics result of the test point. Besides, the thesis studies the dynamic characteristics and dynamic response of the pipe pile-pile cap-superstructure under the action of earthquake and the propagation law of seismic waves in the system of the pipe pile-pile cap-superstructure.


Preventing and tackling bullying effectively are important agenda for schools to safeguard all children's well-being, engagement and sense of belongingness. Children perceived to be different from their peers tend to have a higher risk of being bullied at school, in particular, children with disabilities. It can be challenging for teachers to stop bullying that targets children with disabilities. This chapter considers bullying as a barrier to ensuring inclusive and quality education for everyone. It draws on findings from an ethnographic study concerning the status of inclusion of children identified as having learning difficulties in mainstream schools in China, by listening to what children and teachers have to say (Wang, 2016). The study found that the child participants were subject to forms of bullying. They found it useful to gain support from others when bullying happened, and they showed empathy towards peers' well-being. The teacher participants reflected on the dilemmas and challenges of dealing with bullying and were keen to share experiences about what they found helpful in addressing the issue. The chapter discusses how insights about bullying learned from children and teachers can be used to inform the enactment of inclusive pedagogy. It is concluded that an inclusive pedagogical response that recognizes every child's voice is necessary for tackling bullying and co-creating an inclusive environment.


A quantitative method based on fluorescence generated by the binding of ethidium bromide (EB) to DNA has been developed for estimation of the intactness of the plasma membrane of a mammalian cell type (goat epididymal spermatozoon). The method consists of mixing of sperm preparations with EB in a modified Ringer's solution followed by immediate measurement of fluorescence intensity at 365-580 nm (excitation-emission). The data were corrected for non-specific values of fluorescence due to intact cells only. The percentage of damaged cells in a sperm population was calculated by comparing the corrected fluorescence values of the cell preparations with those of the sonicated cells. The values of sperm intactness obtained by this method (99.5 +/- 0.3) compared well with those obtained by the widely used "marker enzyme" method (97 +/- 0.8) based on estimation of lactic dehydrogenase in the extracellular medium. The validity of this method has been confirmed by using cells of defined intactness i.e. preparations of vigorously forward-motile spermatozoa that showed nearly 100% intactness. The method can detect as low as 0.5% "leaky" or damaged cells in a cell preparation. The "EB-fluorescence" method is simpler and more rapid and reliable than the conventional "marker enzyme" method for estimation of cellular intactness.


Medical data mining is the search for relationships and patterns within the medical data that could provide useful knowledge for effective medical diagnosis. Extracting useful information from these data bases can lead to discovery of rules for later diagnosis tools. Generally medical data bases are highly voluminous in nature. If a training data set contains irrelevant and redundant features classification may produce less accurate results. Feature selection as a pre-processing step in used to reduce dimensionality, removing irrelevant data and increasing accuracy and improves comprehensibility. Associative classification is a recent and rewarding technique that applies the methodology of association into classification and achieves high classification accuracy. Most associative classification algorithms adopt exhaustive search algorithms like in Apriori, and generate huge no. of rules from which a set of high quality of rules are chosen to construct efficient classifier. Hence generating a small set of high quality rules to build classifier is a challenging task. Cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of death globally and in India more deaths are due to CHD. Cardiovascular disease is an increasingly an important cause of death in Andhra Pradesh. Hence there is an urgent need to develop a system to predict the heart disease of people. This paper discusses prediction of risk score for heart disease in Andhra Pradesh. We generated class association rules using feature subset selection. These generated rules will help physicians to predict the heart disease of a patient.


A case history of a 10 year old patient who accidentally injured his maxillary left central incisor is presented. The fracture of the crown extended about 4 mm below the crest of the alveolar bone. After pulpectomy and root canal therapy, a screw was cemented into the canal of the incisor. By means of a removable orthodontic appliance, the fractured tooth was extruded and the fracture line was brought above the level of the alveolar bone. The tooth was then restored with a veneer crown over a post core. A tooth that would have been extracted routinely was thus saved and restored through the use of a collaborative approach.


Background Shoulder instability is an important clinical problem. Arthroscopic surgery is an established treatment modality in shoulder instability, but it continues to be associated with a high rate of recurrences and complications. The purpose of the study was to analyze late outcomes of arthroscopic repair of Bankart lesions in patients with post-traumatic anterior shoulder instability and non-engaging Hill-Sachs lesion, with special focus on the incidence and causes of recurrences and complications. Material/Methods We investigated 92 patients (92 shoulders) who underwent surgery on account of post-traumatic anterior shoulder instability. The duration of follow-up ranged from 6 to 12.5 years (mean: 8.2 years). All patients were operated on in the lateral decubitus position using FASTak 2.8-mm suture anchors (FASTak, Arthrex, Naples, Florida). Treatment outcomes were evaluated using the Rowe and University of California at Los Angeles rating system (UCLA). Results According to Rowe scores, there were 71 (81.5%) excellent, 12 (12.6%) good, 5 (5.3%) satisfactory, and 2 (2.1%) poor results. Rowe scores improved in a statistically significant manner (p=0.00) post-surgery, to a mean of 90 (range: 25–100). Treatment outcomes measured as UCLA scores improved in a statistically significant manner (p=0.00), reaching post-operative levels of 12–35 (mean: 33.5). There were 9 recurrences, 1 case of axillary nerve praxia, and 1 case of anchor loosening. Conclusions With rigorous criteria for qualifying patients for surgery, arthroscopic treatment of post-traumatic anterior shoulder instability produces good outcomes and low recurrence and complication rates irrespective of the number of previous dislocations, age, or sex.


This paper presents estimates of the degree of returns to scale using nonparametric measures of primal and dual productivity for 2-digit US manufacturing industries. As part of the analysis, the cyclical behaviour of primal and dual productivity measures are considered, time-varying markups are allowed for, and the small sample properties of the instrumental variables estimator used to derive the estimates from the primal and dual relations examined. Both the primal and dual estimates indicate the existence of increasing returns to scale for the durable goods industries. The simulation results indicate there is a slight tendency for the dual equation estimates to overestimate the degree of returns to scale. However, small sample bias appears to be most severe for the non-durable goods industries.


Over 29,000 phishing emails are reported each month on average to the AntiPhishing Working Group. If we consider that at least 5% of these emails achieve their target, at least 1,450 distinct email users a month are caught in the phisher's net. This study attempts to understand the basic deception techniques utilized by phishers when creating the phishing emails. Exploratory content and linguistic analyses are performed to elicit the most widely used deception techniques and linguistic features that seem to be prominent in phishing emails. Preliminary results provide evidence to support that phishers utilize a very reduced and recognizable subset of deception techniques. Moreover, paired with these deception techniques, specific linguistic features seem to create a recognizable pattern of phishing emails that can be used to aid detection and filtering.


High utility sequential pattern mining is an emerging topic in the data mining community. Compared to the classic frequent sequence mining, the utility framework provides more informative and actionable knowledge since the utility of a sequence indicates business value and impact. However, the introduction of "utility" makes the problem fundamentally different from the frequency-based pattern mining framework and brings about dramatic challenges. Although the existing high utility sequential pattern mining algorithms can discover all the patterns satisfying a given minimum utility, it is often difficult for users to set a proper minimum utility. A too small value may produce thousands of patterns, whereas a too big one may lead to no findings. In this paper, we propose a novel framework called top-k high utility sequential pattern mining to tackle this critical problem. Accordingly, an efficient algorithm, Top-k high Utility Sequence (TUS for short) mining, is designed to identify top-k high utility sequential patterns without minimum utility. In addition, three effective features are introduced to handle the efficiency problem, including two strategies for raising the threshold and one pruning for filtering unpromising items. Our experiments are conducted on both synthetic and real datasets. The results show that TUS incorporating the efficiency-enhanced strategies demonstrates impressive performance without missing any high utility sequential patterns.


This study describes the impact of a sudden, traumatic natural disaster on a bachelor of nursing programme, and the capacity and processes required to minimise disruption to programme delivery and student learning. This descriptive case study, undertaken across 2011-2012, collected data through interviews, a survey and artefact collection. Six key themes emerged from the inductive and descriptive statistical analyses: context; communication; leadership and followership; decision making; the need to balance shifting priorities around professional responsibilities and personal imperatives; and taking action and action plans. The conclusions reached emphasise safety as the first priority, encourage personal risk mitigation, and emphasise the importance of ongoing support and flexibility for all staff and students as well as the need for clear communication and decision-making. What is perhaps most important to take from this experience is that a plan does not, by itself, equal preparedness; every institution must look to its own context, consider its own priorities, and formulate its own approach to preparedness.


Variance and covariance components of growth and production traits were analyzed employing REML animal model to assess the Dahlem Red (PD-3) chicken population for direct additive genetic, maternal effects and to estimate the estimated breeding value (EBV), genetic parameters, genetic trends and rate of inbreeding (ΔF) utilizing seven generation's data. The generation and hatch had significant (P≤0.01) effect on the body weight at 0 day (BW0), 2 (BW2), 4 (BW4) and 6 weeks (BW6) and shank length at six weeks of age (SL6). The average least squares means (LSM) for BW6 and SL6 were 273.93±0.62 g and 53.97±0.05 mm, respectively. All the production traits were significantly (P≤0.01) influenced by generation and hatch. The average LSM for age at sexual maturity (ASM), egg production up to 40 weeks (EP40) and egg mass up to 40 weeks (EM40) were 168.82±0.25 d, 72.60±0.41 eggs and 4.21±0.07 kg, respectively. Model 5 with additive direct, maternal genetic, maternal permanent environmental and residual variance components was the best for BW0, BW2 and BW4 based on the AIC values obtained in WOMBAT. Model 4 was the best model for BW6, SL6, ASM, EP40 and EM40 with additive direct, maternal permanent environmental and residual variance components. Maternal effects were higher during early age, decreased with age, and remained present until 20 weeks of age. The heritability (h2) estimates were low to moderate in magnitude for all the growth traits and ranged from 0.02±0.03 to 0.19±0.03. The maternal heritability was high at hatch (0.35±0.06), decreased gradually until 4th week (0.02±0.01) and ceased afterwards. The heritabilities of EP40 (0.11±0.03) and EM40 (0.12±0.04) were low. The direct additive genetic correlations (ra) between BW2, BW4, BW6 and SL6 were high and positive (P≤ 0.05). The additive genetic and maternal permanent environmental correlation between EP40 and EM40 were high and positive (P≤ 0.05). The EBV of EM40 was significant (P≤ 0.05) with 0.48 kg/generation in PD-3 chicken at the end of the seventh generation. The EBV of EP40 showed an increasing trend with a genetic gain of 1.87 eggs per generation. The average inbreeding coefficient of the population was 0.019 and average ΔF was 0.007 over the last seven generations of selection. The EBV trends for primary and associated traits showed linear trends in the desired direction and negligible inbreeding.


The talk deals with the interaction between – the recursion of – depiction as a representation of imaging (natural vision and "mental imagery") and the imaging (the natural vision and mnemic [re]visualization) of pictures. This interaction or recursion ishistorical; it takes time, it requires work, it varies in agents's experience, and it can fail. It is often overlooked by psychology, philosophy, history, or art theory that concentrate exclusively either on imaging (seeing, visualizing) or on depiction (including modes of representation, such as linear perspective, and media, such as painting), despite the fact that pictures must be imaged in a certain way in order for their pictoriality to be seen (for them even to be seen as pictures) and images must be pictured in a certain way for the information available in them to be realized, replicated, and retrieved. Particular interactions or recursions between imaging and picturing are constituted socially within historical forms of life, and can therefore be regarded as culturally variable despite biopsychological and logical-semiotic constants in image structure and pictorial representation. In historical social life, the interaction between imaging and picturing is phenomenally experienced at a particular standpoint, a physical location of embodied seeing or viewing to which the basic interaction is usually oriented intentionally. Once the context of a standpoint in a form of life has dissipated, changed, or disappeared, however, the interaction or recursion between imaging and picturing ceases to be visible in itself as human visuality. Instead it must become the object of analytic and historical reconstruction--the proper activity of "visual-cultural studies" as conducted by art historians and others. Nonetheless it can be assumed that such reconstruction is also constantly carried out in our daily intercourse with pictures: their recursions in imaging must be discovered and replicated.


Microdissection techniques have the potential to allow for transcriptome analyses in specific populations of cells that are isolated from heterogeneous tissues such as the nervous system and certain cancers. Problematically, RNA is not stable under the labeling conditions usually needed to identify the cells of interest for microdissection. We have developed an immunolabeling method that utilizes a high salt buffer to stabilize RNA during prolonged antibody incubations. We first assessed RNA integrity by three methods and found that tissue incubated in high salt buffer for at least 20 h yielded RNA of similar quality to that for RNA extracted from fresh-frozen tissue, which is considered highest quality. Notably, the integrity was superior to that for RNA extracted from tissue processed using rapid immunolabeling procedures (5 min total duration). We next established that high salt buffer was compatible with immunolabeling, as demonstrated by immunofluorescent detection of dopamine neurons in the brain. Finally, we laser microdissected dopamine neurons that were immunolabeled using high salt buffer and demonstrated that RNA integrity was preserved. Our described method yields high quality RNA from immunolabeled microdissected cells, an essential requirement for meaningful genomics investigations of normal and pathological cells isolated from complex tissues.


Introduction: Malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) is a disease with a dismal prognosis. Currently available treatments have modest results. Therefore, new agents and new treatment strategies are eagerly awaited by patients and clinicians. Preclinical and clinical studies have shown that angiogenesis plays a very important role in MPM. Therefore, a great hope has been placed in the use of anti-angiogenic agents in this disease. Areas covered: Studies regarding anti-angiogenic treatments in MPM with bevacizumab, tyrosine-kinase inhibitors (TKIs) and other agents were critically analyzed, with an overview of ongoing trials and future perspectives, including research on biomarkers. Expert opinion: The clinical use of angiogenesis inhibitors in MPM patients has resulted more challenging than anticipated. The intrinsic complexity of neo-angiogenesis, and its redundant regulatory mechanisms, suggests that multiple and different biomarkers are needed to predict efficacy of anti-angiogenic agents and to monitor their biological and therapeutic effects. The growing understanding of the molecular alterations and key pathways that underlie the resistance to VEGF inhibitors will allow to design studies of the combination of agents targeting these pathways with anti-VEGF therapies. Only a tight integration of preclinical and clinical studies will allow to achieve a real progress in MPM patients with this therapeutic strategy.


Hassawi donkey represents one of the most common, native breed in Saudi Arabia originated from the Eastern Province, more particularly in Al-Hasa city. Little is known about the morphological parameters of Hassawi donkey, therefore, this study aimed to describe the general physical characterizations of this breed based on the recommendations of the FAO Experts consultation. Twenty-eight Hassawi donkeys including 12 male and 16 female were enrolled in this study. Twenty-Two morphological parameters and eight indices were analyzed for each animal. Descriptive statistical analysis was done for each parameter as well as correlation between parameters was also evaluated. Results revealed that most of the measured parameters showed normal distribution, while the highest degree of variation was observed in chest width and depth. Moreover, the lowest degree of variation was detected in parameters related to animal height. The measurement of the height at withers indicated that this breed can be categorized as large donkey breed. Thirteen of the twenty-two studied parameters revealed significant sex differences, including five height, three extremities, two length measures, two chest measures and face width, where the values were significantly higher for males than females. Furthermore, only the weight index from the eight indices was significantly higher in males than females. Finally, a moderate to higher degree of correlation was detected between parameters measuring animal height. It can be concluded that the morphological parameters analyzed in this study can be considered as a basis for further studies on the Hassawi donkey breed.


The purpose of this report was to develop measurements that can be used for predicting success in Plane Geometry in the Worland High School. The specific purposes of this report were (1) to determine coefficients of correlation between Plane Geometry grades and Algebra I grades, between plane Geometry and Algebra II grades, between Plane Geometry grades and scores on the Orleans Geometry Prognosis Test, and between Plane Geometry grades and the scores on the Henmon-Nelson Test Mental Ability; and (2) to develop expectancy tables to predict the success of students in Plane Geometry. Since this is a report to predict the success of a student in Plane Geometry, it was limited to approximately one hundred students who had completed one full year of Plane Geometry. These students range from sophomores to seniors who had taken Plane Geometry sometime during the school years 1958-1961. The four predictive factors used in this report were (1) Algebra I grades, (2) Algebra II grades, (3) the Orleans Geometry Prognosis Test, and (4) the Henmon-Nelson Test of Mental Ability. The data collected for this report were taken from the students' permanent records which are on file in the principal's office of Worland High School. Information obtained from these permanent records were the end of the year grades for Algebra I, Algebra II, Plane Geometry, and the Henmon-Nelson Test of Mental Ability scores. The scores for the Orleans Geometry Prognosis Test were obtained from the students' personal files in the guidance office. The data were grouped into correlation tables. The statistics obtained from each table were substituted into a correlation formula from which a single numerical value was computed for each correlation. The same data collected for the correlations were used in tabulating expectancy tables. These tables should be useful devices for predicting and interpreting the degree of success in geometry to the students. The correlations established from this report between geometry and other factors are as follows: 1. .78 between Plane Geometry grades and Algebra II grades. 2. .75 between Plane Geometry grades and Algebra I grades. 3. .59 between Plane Geometry grades and the Orleans Geometry Prognosis Test scores. 4. .47 between Plane Geometry grades and the Henmon-Nelson Test of Mental Ability scores. From the correlations computed, Algebra II was found to be the best single predictor. However, all students are not required to take Algebra II as a prerequisite for Plane Geometry. Since Algebra I is required for entrance into Plane Geometry and because of the insignificant difference in their correlations, grades from Algebra I would serve equally as well as a strong predictor. Expectancy tables were developed to give a graphic explanation of the predictions which may be made. One need only to direct his attention to the row of the table corresponding to the score a student receives in one of the predictive factors; the entries in that row show how likely the student is to attain any particular grade average. There is no absolute way of predicting a student's success in Plane Geometry. Current materials and modern methods in mathematics have created a need for further research to be done on prediction and a need to follow up these studies to help validate effective ways of predicting success in Plane Geometry.


Classification of the cosmopolitan butterfly genus Danaus (Nymphalidae: Danainae) is revised at subgeneric, specific and subspecific levels, combining for the first time mitochondrial and nuclear DNA sequence information with morphological data. Tree topologies based on the nuclear genome (allozymes, pheromone components, the morphology of all life history stages and nuclear DNA sequences), on the one hand, and mitochondrial DNA, on the other, are incongruent and challenge the current taxonomy of the genus. Although earlier classifications, based on adult morphology alone, are, in general, well supported by an analysis of total evidence, the mitochondrial phylogeny shows that the species D. chrysippus and its subgenus Anosia are deeply paraphyletic. Subspecies dorippus of D. chrysippus is the basal clade of the genus and is reinstated as the species D. dorippus. The former species D. plexaure is demoted to a subspecies of D. eresimus. The specific status of D. erippus, as distinct from D. plexippus, is tentatively supported. On the strength of the new data, division of the monophyletic genus Danaus s.l. into three subgenera Danaus s.s., Salatura and Anosia is unsustainable and is abandoned. Of the 15 terminal clades (taxa) of Danaus s.l. included in the study, 11 are species that broadly conform to the biological species concept. (The West Indian species D. cleophile, missing from our analysis, is the twelfth species). The remaining terminal clades are subspecies of D. chrysippuscomb. nov. and D. dorippusstat. rev. Two sympatric Neotropical species, D. eresimus and D. gilippus, are morphologically distinct and sexually isolated but have nearly identical mitochondrial genomes. In contrast, two partially sympatric Palaeotropical species, D. chrysippus and D. dorippus, are cryptic species that share structural morphology and hybridize but have highly differentiated mitochondrial genomes. D. dorippus is polymorphic for two anciently diverged haplotypes and its history has possibly involved recombinational speciation and/or hybridism.


This paper describes a prototype of a discrete event simulator-Y4 (yield forecaster)-capable of simulating defect related yield loss and manufacturing cost as a function of time, for a multiproduct IC manufacturing line. The methodology of estimating yield and cost is based on mimicking the operation and characteristics of a manufacturing line in the time domain. The paper presents a set of models that take into account the effect of particles introduced during wafer processing as well as changes in their densities due to process improvements. These models also illustrate a possible way of accounting for the primary attributes of fabrication, product, and failure analysis which affect yield learning. A spectrum of results are presented for a manufacturing scenario to demonstrate the usefulness of the simulator in formulating IC manufacturing strategies.


Data supporting physical activity guidelines to optimize bone development in men is sparse. Peak bone mass is believed to be important for the risk of osteoporosis later in life. The objective of this study was to determine if an increased amount of physical activity over a 5‐year period was associated with increased bone mineral content (BMC), areal (aBMD) and volumetric (vBMD) bone mineral density, and a favorable development of cortical bone size in young adult men. The original 1068 young men, initially enrolled in the Gothenburg Osteoporosis and Obesity Determinants (GOOD) study, were invited to participate in the longitudinal study, and a total of 833 men (78%), 24.1 ± 0.6 years of age, were included in the 5‐year follow‐up. A standardized self‐administered questionnaire was used to collect information about patterns of physical activity at both the baseline and 5‐year follow‐up visits. BMC and aBMD were measured using dual energy X‐ray absorptiometry, whereas vBMD and bone geometry were measured by peripheral quantitative computed tomography. Increased physical activity between the baseline and follow‐up visits was associated with a favorable development in BMC of the total body, and aBMD of the lumbar spine and total hip (p < 0.001), as well as with development of a larger cortex (cortical cross sectional area), and a denser trabecular bone of the tibia (p < 0.001). In conclusion, increased physical activity was related to an advantageous development of aBMD, trabecular vBMD and cortical bone size, indicating that exercise is important in optimizing peak bone mass in young men. © 2012 American Society for Bone and Mineral Research.


Robert Franzosi, From Words to Numbers: Narrative, Data, and Social Science (Structural Analysis in the Social Sciences, 22) Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004, 475 pp. What is the reader to make of a 475 page book in the Structural Analysis in the Social Sciences series that contains 56 pages of notes, 44 pages of references, and 334 pages of text bracketed by two poems in Italian? That ranges through, amongst others, sociology, linguistics, semiotics, history, and alchemy? That within the span of a few pages goes from abstract questions of epistemology or linguistics to technical details and practical advice on sampling and coding? First, this is not a standard methodological treatise on content analysis: when the author calls From Words to Numbers a kind of alchemy, and uses the metaphor of a journey to describe the book, you know that there is more here than a postmodernist's nightmare of positivism run amok. Second, the author is tremendously erudite and unafraid to show it (e.g., a single paragraph on page 19 quotes Levi-Strauss, Sorokin, Mandeville, T.S. Eliot, and Peter Berger). Scattered throughout the book are brief histories of content analysis, the quantitative study of political conflict, the development of text or story grammars in linguistics and psychology, pilgrimages and voyages of discovery. Third, a thread of postmodern irony and playfulness runs through the book, as he recognizes the likely reactions of various types of reader (skeptical historian, frustrated methodologist, Faust!--131), and even (quoting Calvino) inquires if the reader needs to pee before proceeding with the rest of the chapter. Readers familiar with Franzosi's previous methodological papers will know the basic story of From Words to Numbers. From linguisitics he adopts the concept of story grammars and combines the resulting semantic triplet of actor-action-object (and their modifiers) to collect and code narrative data on protest from newspapers, using relational database management systems to store and retrieve the data (with useful practical instructions on how to implement the method using commercial software). Like Shapiro and Markoff's work on les cahiers des doleances in Revolutionary Demands (1998), Franzosi tears content analysis coding away from the particular theoretical concerns of the researcher, thereby simplifying the coding work and leaving theoretical decisions to the researcher, not the coder. This method preserves more information than traditional methods, most importantly that concerning the relation between subject and object embedded in the narrative. Consequently network models and their graphic representation can be used to analyse the data. In addition to outlining the methodology and its theoretical underpinnings, Franzosi engages in serious and thoughtful consideration of data quality issues for researchers on protest events who use newspapers as sources of data. The critiques are familiar: selectivity and biases of newspaper reporting depending on the type, size and other characteristics of events, their place in media issue attention cycles, and their distance from the place of publication; so are the defenses: there' s no alternative, large-scale events are consistently reported, and once known, biases can be taken into account. …


A body of work is starting to emerge that seeks to build on the challenges and lessons of the current global coronavirus crisis for long term sustainability planning and development. This perspective article argues that central to such reflections should be an acknowledgment of the intense territorial impact of the crisis, especially in the places where most of the world's population is increasingly living: cities. We review existing frameworks for SDG implementation in the cities of Bengaluru (India), Medellin (Colombia), and Cape Town (South Africa) and use this as the backdrop for an analysis of local responses to the pandemic. We build on this analysis to reflect on three main avenues for SDG implementation going forward: multi-level governance, the science-policy interface and citizen and society engagement. We argue that strengthening these structures and collaborations will be central to more sustainable, long-term inclusive, and evidence-based decision-making processes and global policy implementation in cities in a post COVID-19 world.