The findings from diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (dMRI) studies often show inconsistent and sometimes contradictory results due to small sample sizes as well as differences in acquisition parameters and pre-/post-processing methods. To address these challenges, collaborative multi-site initiatives have provided an opportunity to collect larger and more diverse groups of subjects, including those with neuropsychiatric disorders, leading to increased power and findings that may be more representative at the group and individual level. With the availability of these datasets openly, the ability of joint analysis of multi-site dMRI data has become more important than ever. However, intrinsic- or acquisition-related variability in scanner models, acquisition protocols, and reconstruction settings hinder pooling multi-site dMRI directly. One powerful and fast statistical harmonization method called ComBat (https://github.com/Jfortin1/ComBatHarmonization) was developed to mitigate the "batch effect" in gene expression microarray data and was adapted for multi-site dMRI harmonization to reduce scanner/site effect. Our goal is to evaluate this commonly used harmonization approach using a large diffusion MRI dataset involving 542 individuals from 5 sites. We investigated two important aspects of using ComBat for harmonization of fractional anisotropy (FA) across sites: First, we assessed how well ComBat preserves the inter-subject biological variability (measured by the effect sizes of between-group FA differences) after harmonization. Second, we evaluated the effect of minor differences in pre-processing on ComBat's performance. While the majority of effect sizes are mostly preserved in some sites after harmonization, they are not well-preserved at other sites where non-linear scanner contributions exist. Further, even minor differences in pre-processing can yield unwanted effects during ComBat harmonization. Thus, our findings suggest paying careful attention to the data being harmonized as well as using the same processing pipeline while using ComBat for data harmonization.


SIR,-Dr John Horgan discusses the clinical presentation of cardiac tamponade in terms of respiratory distress and shock and emphasises the importance of early diagnosis (5 September, p 563). A further symptom may help in preventing delay in diagnosis: dysphagia was found in three consecutive cases seen recently at this hospital. In each case the origin of the tamponade was malignant disease; cytological examination of pericardial fluid and sputum disclosed adenocarcinomatous cells. All three patients (aged 54, 65, 65) were smokers. While each patient complained predominantly of progressive breathlessness, which became rapidly worse around the time of admission, their dysphagia was scarcely less distressing. After pericardiocentesis (the volume of effusion drained ranged from I 5 to 2 5 litres) not only was breathlessness improved but dysphagia was relieved. This suggests a direct pressure effect of the enlarged pericardial sac on the oesophagus, by analogy with mitral stenosis, where left atrial enlargement may also cause dysphagia.' In a review of pericardial constriction Hirschmann gave dysphagia as a symptom,2 and Thurber et aP describe 10 of 55 patients with malignant pericardial disease complaining of dysphagia, but it is not mentioned in the Oxford Textbook of Medicine4 or Hurst's The Heart.' In any patient with respiratory distress and dysphagia the possibility of cardiac tamponade should be considered.


This paper focuses on the extent to which online information sharing practice is socially motivated. A key interest is how knowledge of the existing social connections between actors may predict their information sharing behaviour when they move into an online environment, and the relative importance of these connections when set against other factors that may motivate online information sharing within a closed group. The examination of online information exchanges between members of a defined community of bloggers reveals that those with established off-line relationships are more likely to interact with one another when they move into an online environment than those who have not enjoyed earlier contact. The findings of the empirical study are evaluated with reference to social exchange theory, with acknowledgement of the importance of shared social capital as a prerequisite for the efficient operation of work-groups, both in face-to-face and online environments. It is concluded that social exchange theory can be deployed as a means of explaining online information sharing behaviours. The study findings have implications for the design of environments for purposes of online information sharing, especially in terms of the provision of substitutes for physical proximity in distributed organisations, the operation of reward systems, and expectations for communities to develop their own information sharing ecologies.


Insert Snakebite is a global public health issue, and in majority of cases it is undermined. Tropical and subtropical countries are most effected, Bangladesh being one of them. There is scarcity of countries' epidemiological situation in relation to snakebite poisoning. This study has looked at the epidemiological status of snakebite poisoning from national representative survey findings. Methods: A nationwide cross-sectional survey was conducted in 12 randomly selected districts of Bangladesh in 2003. A total of 171,366 households were surveyed and information was collected from 819,429 populations by face to face interview. Multi-stage cluster sampling methods were used in this survey and covered urban, rural and slum populations. Results: Annually an estimated 15,372 (10.98/100,000) individuals were bitten by snakes and of them 1709 (1.22/100,000) died every year. Males were found to be most vulnerable with a risk of 1.51 times higher than female. Rural populations were also 10.54 times higher at risk than the populations living in the urban areas. Among the victims 94% were from the poor socio economic conditions. Around 43.9% of the incidences occurred during evening to midnight. Home was found the most common area for snake bite (33.6%), and the Leg was found to be the most common site for biting (63.1%). A total of 96.6% victims sought treatment, of them 61% sought immediate treatment from traditional healing methods. Conclusions: Present incidence of snakebite in Bangladesh has clearly shown that there is emerging public health needs for intervention that can reduce the mortality and burden of the disease in the country.


Low power distribution systems have severe power quality issues due to the non-linearity of several residential and industrial loads. The main power quality issue is the harmonics leading to the overheating of the transformers in the distribution systems. By employing passive filters, active filters, and custom power devices, the harmonics in the source current can be reduced. To overcome the drawbacks of conventional tuned filters and active power filters the modified shunt active power filter was introduced with the fuzzy logic controller. In this paper, an effective way of reducing the total harmonic distortion using three-phase three-wire shunt active filter is carried out and this has been investigated through three control methods namely synchronous reference frame theory, real and reactive power theory, and indirect reference current theory. The recognized control methods are implemented with the fuzzy controller to improve the performance of the induction motor drive. The hardware setup was implemented for the proposed fuzzy-based control technique to achieve better performance in terms of reduced total harmonic distortion and DC link voltage and improved speed performance of induction motor drive when compared to other control methods. Further power factor correction and better reactive power compensation are achieved by implementing hardware.


About 400 semiconductor solids are known to have photocatalytic activity for water splitting. Yet there is no single material that could satisfy all the requirements for desired photocatalysts: i) suitable band gap energy (1.7 eV< Eg < 2.3 eV) for high efficiency, ii) proper band position for reduction and/or oxidation of water, iii) long-term stability in aqueous solutions, iv) low cost, v) high crystallinity, and vi) high conductivity. Hence, in the selection of photocatalytic materials, we better start from intrinsically stable materials made of earth-abundant elements. The band bap energy is also the primary consideration to absorb ample amount of solar energy of wide wavelength spectrum. It sets the limit of theoretically maximum efficiency and it could also be extended by band engineering techniques. Upon selection of the candidate materials, we can also modify the materials for full utilization their potentials. The main path of efficiency loss in PEC water splitting process is recombination of photoelectrons and holes. We discuss the material designs including i) p-n heterojunction photoanodes for effective electron-hole separation, ii) electron highway to facilitate interparticle electron transfer, iii) metal or anion doping to improve conductivity of the semiconductor and to extend the range of light absorption, iv) one-dimensional nanomaterials to secure a short hole diffusion distance and vectoral electron transfer, and v) loading co-catalysts for facile charge separation. High efficiency has been demonstrated for all these examples due to efficient electron-hole separation. Finally, total systems for unassisted solar fuel production are demonstrated.


This study demonstrates that augmented risk SNP panels can enhance prostate cancer prediction for males of European ancestry, especially those with PSA ≥ 2 ng/mL. Prostate cancer susceptibility is a polygenic trait. We aimed to examine the controversial diagnostic utility of single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) for prostate cancer. We analyzed two datasets collected from Europeans and one from Africans. These datasets were generated by the genome-wide association studies, that is, CGEMS, BPC3, and MEC-Africans, respectively. About 540,000 SNPs, including 61 risk markers that constitute a panel termed MK-61, were commonly genotyped. For each dataset, we augmented the MK-61 panel to generate an MK-61+ one by adding several thousands of SNPs that were moderately associated with prostate cancer occurrence in external dataset(s). We assessed the diagnostic utility of both panels by measuring their predictive strength for prostate cancer occurrence with AUC statistics. We calculated the theoretical AUCs using quantitative genetics model-based formulae and obtained the empirical estimates via 10-fold cross-validation using statistical and machine learning techniques. For the MK-61 panel, the 95% confidence intervals of the theoretical AUCs (AUC-CI.95) were 0.578–0.655, 0.596–0.656, and 0.539–0.596 in the CGEMS, BPC3, and MEC-Africans cohorts, respectively. For the MK-61+ panels, the corresponding AUC-CI.95 were 0.617–0.663, 0.527–0.736, and 0.547–0.565. The empirical AUCs largely fell within the theoretical interval. A promising result (AUC = 0.703, FNR = 0.354, FPR = 0.353) was obtained in the BPC3 cohort when the MK-61+ panel was used. In the CGEMS cohort, the MK-61+ panel complemented PSA in predicting the disease status of PSA ≥ 2.0 ng/mL samples. This study demonstrates that augmented risk SNP panels can enhance prostate cancer prediction for males of European ancestry, especially those with {\rm{PSA}} \ge 2.0\ $ng/mL. Prevention Relevance: This study demonstrates that augmented risk SNP panels can enhance prostate cancer prediction for males of European ancestry, especially those with PSA ≥ 2 ng/mL.


We analyze expectations of the Dutch population ages 25 and older concerning future generosity of state and occupational pensions, the main pillars of the Dutch pension system. We use rotating panel data with monthly observations from 2006 until 2012 on individuals' subjective expectations concerning changes between now and ten or twenty years from now in the purchasing power of occupational pensions and of old age social security benefits, the eligibility age for old age social security benefits, and the average retirement age ten or twenty years from now. We find significant variation in expectations across socio-economic groups, with more pessimistic expectations amongst higher educated and higher income groups. We also find that expectations have gradually become more pessimistic since the onset of the economic and financial crisis, in line with the plans for reforms that will reduce pension generosity.


Wildland firefighters are exposed to smoke-containing particulate matter (PM) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) while suppressing wildfires. From 2015 to 2017, the U.S. Forest Service conducted a field study collecting breathing zone measurements of PM4 (particulate matter with aerodynamic diameter ≤4 μm) on wildland firefighters from different crew types and while performing various fire suppression tasks on wildfires. Emission ratios of VOC (parts per billion; ppb): PM1 (particulate matter with aerodynamic diameter ≤1 μm; mg/m3) were calculated using data from a separate field study conducted in summer 2018, the Western Wildfire Experiment for Cloud Chemistry, Aerosol Absorption, and Nitrogen (WE-CAN) Campaign. These emission ratios were used to estimate wildland firefighter exposure to acrolein, benzene, and formaldehyde. Results of this field sampling campaign reported that exposure to PM4 and VOC varied across wildland firefighter crew type and job task. Type 1 crews had greater exposures to both PM4 and VOCs than type 2 or type 2 initial attack crews, and wildland firefighters performing direct suppression had statistically higher exposures than those performing staging and other tasks (mean differences = 0.82 and 0.75 mg/m3; 95% confidence intervals = 0.38-1.26 and 0.41-1.08 mg/m3, respectively). Of the 81 personal exposure samples collected, 19% of measured PM4 exposures exceeded the recommended National Wildland Fire Coordinating Group occupational exposure limit (0.7 mg/m3). Wildland fire management should continue to find strategies to reduce smoke exposures for wildland firefighters.


Airworthiness certification is to ensure the safety of aircraft. With the surge in novel general aviation aircraft configurations and technologies, the Federal AviationAdministration replaced prescriptive design requirements with performance-based airworthiness standards in Federal Aviation Regulations Part 23 that governs the airworthiness of normal category airplane. The amendment ported over the accepted means of compliance (MoC) from prescriptive advisory circulars to a number of consensus standards from aviation community. Because these MoCs are scattered in multiple documents and cross-reference one another, the certification practice with this new format may be cumbersome and time-consuming.This paper proposes a ModelBased System Engineering (MBSE) approach that is envisioned to parametrically transform the document-centric exercise to a model-based process. The approach helps collect the FAR23 regulations and the associated MoC in an integrated system model along with the relevant mappings between them. This allows users to automatically generate a compliance checklist for any specific certification requirement. Other benefits of the MBSE approach include circular referencing check, automatically propagating any future changes to the FARs or MoC standards through the model, and potential incorporation with early aircraft design.


With over time the smartphone is increasingly recognized by the public, it is contrary to the interest in learning about the history of Indonesia, especially the National Hero. Because of it, the idea to combine these two, which combines the sophistication of a smartphone with a history of national hero. Lack of instructional media on a national hero also be one of the factors that led to the creation of this application, not only can be an alternative medium of learning from the lessons of history, this application can also be one of the games that can entertain users. This application intended to provide additional knowledge about the national hero aside from the lessons taught in schools or other educational institutions, the media smartphone is well known by the public is expected that these applications can easily be accepted and may be useful for users who play this application.


: A study was made of the influence of leucocytic interferon on the yield of chromosome aberrations in a human lymphocyte culture after irradiation of cells with fast neutrons (0.85 MeV) at the G0- and G1-stages. It was shown that in cells treated with interferon (50 UE/ml) prior to irradiation the total yield of aberrations and of some of their types was invariable as compared to the irradiated control.


The classification of the sediments into facies and the various environments in which the sediments of the northeastern Voltaian basin were deposited has not been clearly described.  Using detailed field mapping together with petrographic studies, six sedimentary facies has been identified; F1 is defined by asymmetric wave formed ripple marks, F2 indicates flute casts on micaceous sandy shales, F3 has bifurcated ripple and climbing ripple marks on argillaceous materials at the middle parts of the scarp, F4 is identified by parallel and cross stratifications observed close to the upper parts of the scarp, F5 has a bipolar herringbone cross beds and planar cross beds on quartz rich sediments at the southern parts of the study area and a distinctive well developed burrows (Skolithos) at the southern half of the study area defines facies F6. The sediments are deposited largely in a shallow marine environment, with subordinate fluvial, flood plain, deltaic, aeolian, tidal flats and shoreface/nearshore environments. Although, there exist a suitable depositional environment for the formation of hydrocarbons, the overlying sediments are not thick enough to give the required temperature and pressure conditions for hydrocarbons development in the northeastern fringes of the basin. Paleosol features evident by pseudokarren, like weathering marking the contact between the middle Oti/Pendjari group and the lower Gambaga group of the study area. The sequence of the area is that of a typical shallowing, thickening and coarsening upward sequence.

 Key words: Clastic sediments, environments, facies sequence, Gambaga-Nakpanduri, massifs.


The problem of bound states in delta potentials is revisited by means of Fourier transform approach. The problem in a simple delta potential sums up to solve an algebraic equation of degree one for the Fourier transform of the eigenfunction and the problem for more than one delta function also reveals itself to be a simple matter. Quite differently from direct methods, no knowledge about the jump discontinuity of the first derivative of the eigenfunction is required to determine the solution of the problem.


Ternary alloy PbxCd1−xS quantum dots (QDs) were explored as photosensitizers for quantum-dot-sensitized solar cells (QDSCs). Alloy PbxCd1−xS QDs (Pb0.54Cd0.46S, Pb0.31Cd0.69S, and Pb0.24Cd0.76S) were found to substantially improve the photocurrent of the solar cells compared to the single CdS or PbS QDs. Moreover, it was found that the photocurrent increases and the photovoltage decreases when the ratio of Pb in PbxCd1−xS is increased. Without surface protecting layer deposition, the highest short-circuit current density reaches 20 mA/cm2 under simulated AM 1.5 illumination (100 mW/cm2). After an additional CdS coating layer was deposited onto the PbxCd1−xS electrode, the photovoltaic performance further improved, with a photocurrent of 22.6 mA/cm2 and an efficiency of 3.2%.


Background In addition to looking after the physical and mental health of our patients, paediatricians have an educational role towards the population we attend. Objective Health education towards adults who are usually in charge of children: parents, grandparents and childminders. Material and methods - Antenatal and postnatal talks ABOUT childcare topics. - Paediatric Hospital Talks: sleep, feeding, teething, Internet and health. - Paediatric Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) Workshop. - Breastfeeding Group: - Talks in Schools: Accident Prevention and First Aid, Infant Feeding. - Paediatric files: available at Hospital de Nens de Barcelona's web: an easy reference about childcare, feeding, common infections. Results Attendance during these 6 years has increased: 42 people attended our activities during the first year (2008–09), compared to 900 during the last academic year (2012–13). Participants actively proposed new subjects. We detected a positive appreciation in surveys after workshops and lectures. 99.3% of respondents (year 2012/13) rated as high or very high their degree of satisfaction after the activities. 86.9% of the participants answered the survey. All those who attended the CPR workshop believed that it should be extended to all citizens in contact with children because it had helped them acquire important new skills. Conclusions Active and increasing participation rate. We believe that the paediatric team has the duty, in these days where access to information is easy but not always truthful, of counselling families about common health problems and helping to improve the quality of life of their patients.


educational and activity projects to improve cooperation and help children to understand and respect others.' This encourages children to feel involved, and grow as responsible adults. As a volunteer I got the opportunity to attend some weekend camps. Here I had to improvise games, make toys, and join the children in play to kindle their enthusiasm, before they could accept me as their peer. Once accepted, they discussed their personal problems and worries. In one of the camps, I noticed a girl aged 12, who was withdrawn, and not actively participating in games. When she got to know me better, she confessed that 'her walk was funny', and so wanted to avoid any one noticing it. I could not see any abnormal gait, but understood that she had developed a complex. Her father had always mocked her walking. After a long discussion, and involving her friends, we restored her confidence. Similarly children who had concealed their asthma medication, coughed all night. Once I got to know about this, I helped them to understand their illness, and they took their medication regularly. These informal discussions with children helped me to understand their problems, and improved my communication with them. I feel that every doctor or a nurse who is working with children should seek similar opportunities, and attend camps to educate themselves, and learn the art of communicating and understanding their young clients better. Encouraging this type of activity helps children learn to cooperate with others, and live in harmony as well behaved youngsters. This may help us to keep youngsters off the streets, and also decrease their antisocial activities in the community. K M SRIVATSA Department ofPaediatrics, Stoke Mandeville Hospital, Aylesbury, Bucks HP21 8AL


In recent years, the nasal route has increasingly been viewed as an alternative option for the delivery of analgesia, especially when the traditional ways are complicated or time-intensive. However, little is known about the value of this intervention in acute pain management in pediatric emergency medicine. This evidence-based analysis review aims to assess the current evidence regarding the use, safety, and effectiveness of intranasal analgesics in acutely painful conditions encountered in Pediatric Emergency Departments (PEDs). A systemic electronic searching of Cochrane library, PubMed, and EMBASE databases from the beginning of each database until October 2018 was conducted using a maximally sensitive searching strategy. Only randomized controlled trials (RCTs) or quasirandomized controlled trials that evaluated the use of intranasal analgesia for acute pain in children in the Emergency Department and published between January 1990 and October 2018 were included. The methodological quality of the trials was assessed using the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation criteria. Risks of bias within each included study were evaluated according to the Cochrane Risk of Bias Tool for RCTs. This review was reported following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta- Analyses statement. Seven RCTs and one quasi-randomized study met the inclusion criteria. Five studies compared an intranasal analgesic and an alternative intervention, two compared intranasal fentanyl against ketamine, and one compared two different concentrations of intranasal fentanyl. All included trials reported reductions in pain scores, especially within the first 10 to 30 minutes post-intervention; however, pain reduction was maintained to 60 minutes in only one study. No evidence of significant adverse events was associated with the administration of any intranasal analgesic in any of the included studies. This review identified eight articles that discussed the intranasal analgesia as a possible route of analgesia in the PED. While no paper was entirely perfect, the findings support the idea that intranasal analgesia may be an effective analgesic for the treatment of children (3-18 years) with acute moderate to severe pain, and its administration appears to cause minimal adverse effects.


Under the Federal Milk Marketing Order (FMMO) and California milk pricing systems, minimum milk values are determined by the value of components important in dairy product manufacturing. This implies that milk values will vary across farms due to different solids composition (fat, protein and other solids) delivering to the same processing plant. Milk composition can be managed by farm operators by a number of management activities such as: breed choice, number of lactations to keep a cow in the milking herd, ration formulations, feeding management, whether to milk 2 or 3 times daily, and cow comfort. Given the milk pricing systems used for a majority of raw milk in the U.S., dairy farm operators are faced with an environment of maximize profits via a multi-output production function, (i.e., production of milk components). Previous analysis of dairy farm efficiency has typically used the total amount of milk produced (cwt of lbs) as a measure of output, not the production of its components. In this paper, we use hedonic aggregation functions to generate output indices in the evaluation of an input-oriented distance function. We use data from the 2005 USDA Agricultural Resource Management Survey (ARMS)-Dairy Survey for this analysis. A unique feature of the 2005 survey is that it contains information on the annual amount of milkfat and protein produced by the milking herd. From this analysis we find that the estimated technical efficiency when using component amounts as output measures has less variance, but larger range, compared to the method using milk yield as output. A majority of dairy operations generate technical efficiency measures of more than 9.0 (with 1.00 being the possible maximum.


Dermatology is a specific branch of medicine which includes dermatologic manifestations of systemic underlying diseases as well as primary cutaneous diseases. In this study, specialists' abilities of defining and diagnosing dermatologic diseases were assessed. 381 hospitalized patients who were referred to the Dermatology Clinic were reviewed via electronic medical charts. 121 of the clinicians (31.2%) made a dermatologic definition when referring their patients to dermatology. 136 of the the clinicians (35.1%) made a pre-diagnosis for their patients' dermatologic condition of which 90 (66,2%) were correct and 46 (33,8%) were non-relevant. Internists wrote a definitive dermatologic examination note significantly more often than surgeons (P=0.03). However, there was not a significant difference between internists and surgeons when we compared the ratio of correct and complete dermatologic definitions of patient condition (P=0.503). There was also no difference between surgeons and internists in terms of making a pre-diagnosis, making a correct diagnosis, and making a wrong diagnosis (P>0.05 for each comparison). In conclusion, dermatologic consultations are crucial and necessary for the improvement of patient care and treatment. Specialists lack basic skills to recognize and define dermatologic conditions they are confronted with.


A robust receiver is proposed for time-hopping pulse-position-modulation impulse radio systems transmitting over frequency-selective ultra-wideband channels, which aims to remove large-amplitude outliers that occur due to impulsive noise. The proposed system contains a rake structure for collecting the signal energy, which is dispersed over a large number of paths as a result of the wide channel bandwidth. Before the paths are merged via maximal ratio combining, they are passed through nonlinearities to trim the outlier noise components. The robust receiver so designed is shown to outperform the conventional linear rake receiver that consists of only matched filters at its fingers.


The emergence of Islamic banking and finance since 1984 had contributed to the financial development leading to economic growth in Malaysia. Since Islamic banks operates within the dual banking system in Malaysia, it is inevitable that Islamic banking operations have interacted with the monetary policies and outcomes of the existing (conventional) system and as a result interact with interest rate related developments as well. In addition, macroeconomic interaction in the sense of Islamic banking contributing to economic growth will be higher if Islamic banks grow and increase their market share in the industry perhaps through applying legitimate Islamic compliance products and valid contracts.
This research, hence, aims to assess the impact of monetary policy as well as macroeconomic outcomes on Islamic banking operations and vice versa in the case of Malaysia in particular in the post-1990 period. In doing so, each research question is examined and answered in three separate yet connected empirical papers. Each econometric analysis is based on two steps Engle-Granger tests with different timelines and sampling due to availability of the data. The main tests conducted was two steps Engle-Granger approach which involved Ordinary Least Square estimation, Residual testing, and Cointegration test. Vector Error Correction Model and Granger Casusality were also employed for further investigation of the long and short-run relationship between variables.
The finding indicates that the Islamic banks do have long run dynamic relationship with economic growth. However, the conventional banks are the dominion due to small market share of the Islamic banks which is less than 30 per cent.
With regards to the interest rate interaction, both conventional and Islamic interbank money market rates moving closely in the long run statistically indicates that Islamic inter-bank money market is co-integrated in long-run because both conventional and Islamic banks are subjected to the same monetary policy. While saving interest rates of the conventional banks and profit rates of the Islamic banks are not associated but moving parallel need to adjust their return rates in the long short and long run either slightly higher or lower to remain competitive in the market.
The findings on the relationship between Islamic banks saving profit rates spread show that they are affected by financial factors such as inflation rate and real interest rate. This indicates that Islamic banks are exposed to the interest rates risk, as they operate under the dual banking system and reign by the same monetary policies.
The results indicate that there is a close and inevitable interaction between Islamic banking operations and monetary policy outcomes. In particular close operational relationship between Islamic banking profit rates and interest rates should be considered as a source of worry in the face of the religious positioning of the prohibition of interest rate. The outcome reflects that prohibition of riba is only considered as the form nature of Islamic law (Shari'ah), while the operations of Islamic banks are vulnerable to interest rates risk in everyday life. However, in dual banking system such interactions will be inevitable.


Static and dynamic characteristic of carbon nanotube is analyzed by molecular dynamic simulation. Static analysis show that maximum deflection of carbon nanotube appears at 0.033nm distance from free end of cantilever. When the value of driving voltage is less, the flexibility is more important, then the stiffness increase with the voltage increasing, and the collapse structure or hole appear on carbon nanobute. Under low pressure condition, deflection difference on equi-increase of pressure between no damping and damping simulation is larger than that on high pressure. The results of forced vibration indicate that system response consist of transient and steady-state response. With steps of molecular dynamic simulation increasing, transient response disappears gradually, so system response includes only steady-state response, which is simple harmonic vibration with the same frequency as excitation force. These results are in accord with the classical vibration theory. Moreover they will provide theoretic foundation for designing of nanostructure device.


This article seeks to explore the problems of inconsistent and contradictory understandings of the relationship between normative values in society and ethical understandings in relation to sex and sexuality research. It argues that these judgements are peculiarly vulnerable to moral prohibitions and prejudices, that have contingent relevance to an ethical approach to doing research into sexuality. The very values and normativities that give rise to increased perceptions of risk in this area often reflect pathologies and prejudices that are directly and indirectly critically rejected in the research itself. This discussion will explore this problem and make some suggestions for a more satisfying ethical approach to sexuality research.


In recent years, photoacoustic imaging has found vast applications in biomedical imaging. Photoacoustic imaging has high optical contrast and high ultrasound resolution allowing deep tissue non-invasive imaging beyond the optical diffusion limit. Q-switched lasers are extensively used in photoacoustic imaging due to the availability of high energy and short laser pulses, which are essential for high-resolution photoacoustic imaging. In most cases, this type of light source suffers from pulse peak-power energy variations and timing jitter noise, resulting in uncertainty in the output power and arrival time of the laser pulses. These problems cause intensity degradation and temporal displacement of generated photoacoustic signals which in turn deteriorate the quality of the acquired photoacoustic images. In this study, we used a high-speed data acquisition system in combination with a fast photodetector and a software-based approach to capture laser pulses precisely in order to reduce the effect of timing jitter and normalization of the photoacoustic signals based on pulse peak-powers simultaneously. In the experiments, maximum axial accuracy enhancement of 14 µm was achieved in maximum-amplitude projected images on XZ and YZ planes with ±13.5 ns laser timing jitter. Furthermore, photoacoustic signal enhancement of 77% was obtained for 75% laser pulses peak-power stability.


We derive scaling laws for the signal-to-noise ratio of the optimal cross-correlation statistic, and show that the large power-law increase of the signal-to-noise ratio as a function of the observation time T that is usually assumed holds only at early times. After enough time has elapsed, pulsar timing arrays enter a new regime where the signal to noise only scales as T?>. In addition, in this regime the quality of the pulsar timing data and the cadence become relatively unimportant. This occurs because the lowest frequencies of the pulsar timing residuals become gravitational-wave dominated. Pulsar timing arrays enter this regime more quickly than one might naively suspect. For T = 10 yr observations and typical stochastic background amplitudes, pulsars with residual root-mean-squares of less than about 1 μs are already in that regime. The best strategy to increase the detectability of the background in this regime is to increase the number of pulsars in the array. We also perform realistic simulations of the NANOGrav pulsar timing array, which through an aggressive pulsar survey campaign adds new millisecond pulsars regularly to its array, and show that a detection is possible within a decade, and could occur as early as 2016.


all physical systems are subject to noise and do not blow up catastrophically. It is therefore vital to seek well-posed equations to make realistic predictions. The recent µ( I ) -rheology is a major step forward, which allows granular flows in chutes and shear cells to be predicted. This is achieved by introducing a dependence on the non-dimensional inertial number I in the friction coefficient µ . In this paper it is shown that the µ( I ) -rheology is well-posed for intermediate values of I , but that it is ill-posed for both high and low inertial numbers. This result is not obvious from casual inspection of the equations, and suggests that additional physics, such as enduring force chains and binary collisions, becomes important in these limits. The theoretical results are validated numerically using two implicit schemes for non-Newtonian flows. In particular, it is shown explicitly that at a given resolution a standard numerical scheme used to compute steady-uniform Bagnold flow is stable in the well-posed region of parameter space, but is unstable to small perturbations, which grow exponentially quickly, in the ill-posed domain.


be identified and the pericardial effusion resolved by 28 weeks of gestation. The patient had a spontaneous vaginal delivery at 38 weeks of gestation. The newborn weighed 2810gr, had good Apgar scores and uncomplicated postnatal course. At 2 months of age an echocardiogram demonstrated normal ventricles and a small patent foramen ovale. Our case supports a favorable outcome in cases of isolated cardiac diverticulum and large pericardial effusion diagnosed early in pregnancy in the setting of normal NT and normal cardiac function.


Twenty-four adults (10 male; age 27-65 years, median 43.5) with hepatic haemangioma are reviewed. Fifteen had right hypochondrial pain (lesions 8 cm or more in diameter in nine). Six lesions were found incidentally, at ultrasound examination or elective cholecystectomy. Diagnosis, from ultrasonic and angiographic appearances, was confirmed in 12 by percutaneous biopsy without complication. Eleven patients were followed untreated for up to 60 months (median 24 months): lesion size (median 2.5 cm) did not change and all remained well. Surgical resection succeeded in two of three patients; the third and eight other patients (seven with symptoms) with lesions 3 to 30 cm in diameter were selected for Gelfoam embolization. Transient minor side effects preceded improvement in most, but two patients (with lesions of 20 cm or greater in diameter) developed multiple liver abscesses: recovery was protracted. Embolization failed in three; two remain well, untreated, to 24 and 51 months. Two patients had hepatic artery ligation, one with radiotherapy. Further imaging at from eight to 60 months (median 24) showed little change in lesion size or vascularity with any non-resectional technique. Expectant management of small asymptomatic haemangiomas appears appropriate. Embolization may reduce pain but the risk of abscess formation is high for large tumours, and reduction in size or vascularity of lesions is unlikely whatever their initial diameter.


Now updated for SPSS Statistics Version 18, DOING DATA ANALYSIS WITH SPSS is an excellent supplement to any introductory statistics course. It provides a practical and useful introduction to SPSS and enables students to work independently to learn helpful software skills outside of class. By using SPSS to handle complex computations, students can focus on and gain an understanding of the underlying statistical concepts and techniques in the introductory statistics course.


Shungite is a natural carbon containing material that is widely used in water treatment. Scientific research shows that shungite has good adsorption properties towards various organic compounds and heavy metals, as well as exhibiting antibacterial properties. Unfortunately, at the same time shungite releases various chemical elements into the water, including heavy metals. In this study changes in concentration of various heavy metals during drinking water treatment with one commercial and one non-commercial shungite sample were determined. Also sorption of Cu(II) with initial concentration of 2,500 μg/L onto shungite was investigated. The results showed that various heavy metals like nickel, copper, lead, cadmium, zinc, chromium and arsenic are leaching from shungite into water. Lead and cadmium exceeded the maximum acceptable concentration in drinking water for a few days, but nickel exceeded for up to 2 weeks. At the same time shungite showed good adsorption properties towards copper. Nevertheless, before using shungite in drinking water treatment, it would be advisable to assess the necessity and/or wash shungite with larger volumes of water for a longer period of time than is written in the instructions.


UNLABELLED
The Disability of the Arm, Shoulder and Hand (DASH) was translated into Chinese by a physiotherapy team of the Prince of Wales Hospital, Hong Kong (DASH-HKPWH).

OBJECTIVES
This study evaluated the cross-cultural adaptation process, face validity, internal consistency and reliability of the DASH-HKPWH.

METHOD
Language officers and medical professionals from different fields were invited to translate and evaluate the face validity of the DASH-HKPWH. 88 patients were recruited to complete two DASH questionnaires on two occasions 1-2 weeks apart.

RESULTS
Some adjustments were made to the translations based on the cultural and linguistic practice in Hong Kong. The face validity was satisfactory with a mean endorsement score of 3.2. The difference between the mean of DASH scores was not significant (t = -0.35, p = 0.73). The ICC (1,1) and Cronbach's alpha for the 30-item Disability/Symptom of the DASH-HKPWH was 0.77 and 0.94, respectively.

CONCLUSION
The translation was valid and reliable and acceptably equivalent to the original version. The questionnaire is suitable for measuring changes experienced by patients with any upper extremity disorders.


The mountain and mangrove ecosystems are an important component of Sumatra's landscape. These highly diverse ecosystems provide numerous ecological services as well as socio-economic function, but they are also sensitive to disturbance such as climate and human activities. I use the results of my research as a point of discussion for what are the most important drivers of ecosystem change as well as ecosystem resilience and recovery.
As part of the Pacific 'ring of fire', volcanism is one of the most important element in Sumatra and volcanic processes play an important role in the history of vegetation. A 5000 years old record from Danau Njalau in the Kerinci Seblat National Park (KSNP) provides first evidence on how much volcanism can impact the vegetation composition in the tropical mountain of Sumatra. Our palynological record show that the formation of the modern forest took several centuries after the volcanic deposition in the soil ended. The results also show no evidence for prehistoric human-landscape interactions in the area despite the close proximity to known megalith sites. The local fire reconstruction indicates that fire was rare for the last 5000 years and the phases of increased fire frequency could not be linked to either any of the vegetation phases or regional climatic changes. Our results overall suggest the effect of volcanism on the western side of Sumatra might be spatially and temporally more important than expected in shaping the composition and structure of these diverse rainforests.
A second record from the Kerinci valley, provides a better understanding of the history of human activities, another important driver of change in Sumatra. While today rice is the main subsidence crop in Indonesia, historical evidences of its cultivation are still scarce and there is no clear understanding to when rice was first introduced. The water buffalo (Bubalus sp.) was used in wet-rice cultivation to plough wet-rice field before the introduction of machineries. Therefore, finding evidence of the presence of swamp buffaloes can hint to important information regarding rice cultivation and its introduction in Sumatra. I used palaeoecological proxies like pollen and non-pollen palynomorphs to reconstruct the history of rice and buffaloes grazing in order to improve our understanding on when human activities intensified in Sumatra. Our results from Danau Bento are in agreement with the archaeological and linguistic records of the introduction of rice and the water buffaloes husbandry with the arrival of Austronesian migrant to Sumatra about 4000 years ago. Pollen results show an intensification of rice cultivation in the Danau Bento, at about 2500 years ago. A similar age was found in the Toba Plateau, in the north of Sumatra. Both these findings might suggest an increase in population and/or change in technology corresponding to the Bronze Age period in Sumatra. However, this phase lasted only a couple of centuries until ca. 2100 cal yr BP. Following the decline of rice cultivation, the swamp forest never recovered and human continued to maintain the swamp as a grassland for buffalo's grazing. Overall the results indicate that men have shaped this ecosystems for thousands of years continuously.
Mangrove forests in Sumatra are widely distributed along the east coast of the island and provide important ecological services as well as socio-economic function. However, present development of mangroves is under threat due to human activities and possible effect of future sea-level rise (SLR). Our palynological record from a secondary forest in the Mendahara Ilir (MI), Jambi Province suggests that mangroves in the southeast coast of Sumatra could adapt to the changes in sea-level which have occurred in the past 2300 years. The pollen record and the sediment accretion suggests that mangroves in MI could keep up with a SLR of about 2.2 mm/yr (average), however the current estimate is above both the sediment accretion estimate and the rate of sea-level change experienced in the past 2300 years (0.68 mm/yr for the past 1000 years' transgression phase; 5 mm/yr current estimate for the last century; 7 mm/yr future estimate by 2100). Our pollen results show that even under a lower than current and projected SLR, mangroves migrated seaward (regression phase) and landward (transgression phase). If sea-level will rise at the pace predicted, mangroves will need a migratory path inland. This escape is however impeded, due to intensive human agriculture and urbanization in the coastal areas in Sumatra.
With the application of palaeoecology, I could reconstruct thousands of years of vegetation history. Overall the results are important evidence of the role of human activities and volcanism in the highlands of Sumatra and the sensitivity of mangroves to future sea-level change.


This essay draws upon the anthropological conceptualization of 'rites of passage' to consider the 1947 Partition of the Indian sub-continent as such a rite, into what Liisa Malkki has called the national order of things. As a rite of passage, analytically distinguished into three phases of separation, transition or limen and incorporation, Partition stories can be seen as potentially about the phase of liminality — Pakistani-Indian and not-Pakistaninot-Indian — a liminality which is both 'structurally invisible' and deeply threatening to the 'stable state' or national order. In particular this essay focuses on Pakistan, which has often been written about as if lacking a national identity, to suggest that the instability of Pakistan's nationalist narratives provide a productive opening into examining this rite of passage. It does so by exploring Muhajirs as a recalcitrant liminal category, K. K. Aziz's lament over the absence of national history writing and the constitution of Dawn as a national newspaper.


The aim of this work was to evaluate the coefficient of variation (CV) and to establish classification ranges for the main variables evaluated in experimentation with poultrys through different methods. The CV data of different response variables observed in poultry articles (broilers, laying hens, roosters and quails) published in five national journals were tabulated in a Microsoft Excel 2010® worksheet. Afterwards, they were subjected to normality evaluation through the Shapiro-Wilk method, and later the following data of the descriptive statistics were utilized: maximum value, minimum value, range, mean, median, standard deviation, midquartile, first quartile, third quartile, interquartile range, and pseudo sigma. According to the values obtained in the descriptive statistics of the CVs of each variable, classification ranges were elaborated for these values, considering six different forms of classification, adapted from the consulted literature. The results indicated that the classification ranges established for CVs in experiments with poultrys are different from those recommended in statistical textbooks. It is possible to utilize midquartile, pseudo sigma, mean and standard deviation through different methods in order to classify the CVs, but the use of the standard deviation promotes incoherent classifications in certain variables, and promotes increase in the amplitude between the lowest and the highest CV value obtained for the classification ranges.


Automated text categorization is an important technique for many web applications, such as document indexing, document filtering, and cataloging web resources. Many different approaches have been proposed for the automated text categorization problem. Among them, centroid-based approaches have the advantages of short training time and testing time due to its computational efficiency. As a result, centroid-based classifiers have been widely used in many web applications. However, the accuracy of centroid-based classifiers is inferior to SVM, mainly because centroids found during construction are far from perfect locations.
 We design a fast Class-Feature-Centroid (CFC) classifier for multi-class, single-label text categorization. In CFC, a centroid is built from two important class distributions: inter-class term index and inner-class term index. CFC proposes a novel combination of these indices and employs a denormalized cosine measure to calculate the similarity score between a text vector and a centroid. Experiments on the Reuters-21578 corpus and 20-newsgroup email collection show that CFC consistently outperforms the state-of-the-art SVM classifiers on both micro-F1 and macro-F1 scores. Particularly, CFC is more effective and robust than SVM when data is sparse.


This paper addresses a dynamic load balancing method of domain decomposition for 3-dimensional molecular dynamics on parallel computers. In order to reduce interprocessor communication overhead, we are introducing a concept of permanent cells to the dynamic load balancing method. Molecular dynamics simulations on a parallel computer T3E prove that the proposed method using load balancing much improves the execution time. Furthermore, we analyze theoretical effective ranges of the dynamic load balancing method, and compare them with experimental effective ranges obtained by parallel molecular dynamics simulations. As a result, the theoretical upper bounds predict experimental effective ranges and are also valid on commercial parallel computers.


Learners with disabilities are often denied field-based learning experiences in naturalistic disciplines. Geology can present substantial barriers due to rugged terrain in difficult-to-reach locations. In 2014, a field trip was executed with the dual purpose of 1) designing inclusion in field learning and 2) demonstrating to college faculty an accessible field experience. Direct observations of participants on the trip, as well as pre- and post-trip focus groups, illuminate the student and faculty field learning experience. Geoscience faculty have little guidance or support in understanding what disability is, how to reconcile accommodation with field-geology learning goals, and they cited instances where disability service providers acted as gatekeepers. The net effect of these ontologies is to reduce faculty empathy with, and thus their ability to be inclusive of, students with disabilities in field settings. Recommendations for teachers include taking campus disability-services administrators on field trips, opening and maintaining communications with disability service providers, and designing pedagogically sound field trips that align as much as possible to principles of universal design. An advocacy approach is described, which focuses on the students and the educational process, instead of on institutional compliance. Finally, geoscience faculty should conceptualize disability service providers as accessibility service providers.


This research aims to study the cooperative roles as fisherman's need provider (a Case study at Budi Bahari Cooperative, Barru Regency).  The major Problem that was interesting to discuss was how the cooperative roles as fisherman's need to fulfill specifically as a capital, equipment and daily needs provider, and to affect the consumer purchase decision at Budi Bahari Cooperative. This study used a case study to assess the Budi Bahari Cooperative performance related to fishermen's catch and daily life.  Purposive sampling method was used with respondents from Budi Bahari's Cooperative staffs and five fisherman groups (25 people). Data were collected through direct interview for all respondents and were analyzed using chi square method. Results showed that Budi Bahari Cooperative gave sizeable role by loan capital, supply equipment and daily needs of cooperative's members who work as a fisherman. Hence, the purchase decision was not influenced by the price, and but it was affected by product type, and goods distribution


Temperature influences every aspect of ant biology, especially metabolic rate, growth and development. Maintenance of high inner nest temperature increases the rate of sexual brood development and thereby increases the colony fitness. Insect societies can achieve better thermoregulation than solitary insects due to the former's ability to build large and elaborated nests and display complex behaviour. In ants and termites the upper part of the nest, the mound, often works as a solar collector and can also have an efficient ventilation system. Two thermoregulatory strategies could be applied. Firstly the ants use an increased thermal gradient available in the mound for brood relocation. Nurse workers move the brood according to the thermal gradients to ensure the ideal conditions for development. A precise perception of temperature and evolution of temperature preferences are needed to make the correct choices. A second thermoregulatory strategy used by mound nesting ants is keeping a high temperature inside large nests. The unique thermal and insulation properties of the nest material help to maintain stable conditions, which is the case of the Wood ant genus Formica. Ants can regulate thermal loss by moving nest aggregation and alternating nest ventilation. Metabolic heat produced by ant workers or associated micro organisms is an important additional source of heat which helps to maintain thermal homeostasis in the nest.


Shape feature analyses were performed on binary images originally obtained from color images of 10 common weeds, along with corn and soybeans, found in the Midwest. Features studied were roundness, aspect, perimeter/thickness, elongatedness, and seven invariant central moments (ICM), for each plant type and age up to 45 days after emergence. Shape features were generally independent of plant size, image rotation, and plant location within most images. The ability to discriminate between monocots and dicots was most evident between 14 and 23 days using these features. Shape features that best distinguished these plants were aspect and first invariant central moment (ICM1), which classified 60 to 90% of the dicots from the monocots. Using Analysis of Variance and Tukey's multiple comparison tests, shape features did not change significantly for most species over the study period. This information could be very useful in the future design of advanced spot spraying applications.


Quark mixing and CP-Violation has been a very active area of investigation over the past decades. Owing to the last round of experiments in K and B mesons, our understanding is now completely compatible with the existence of just one phase in the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa mixing matrix. The precision of the tests in the quark sector can further improve thanks to the interplay of theory and experiments. Flavour transitions are so sensitive to short distance mechanisms that we are compelled to press for more quantitative tests of the Standard Model (SM) studying rare processes involving quarks and leptons. This is especially important because the direct exploration of the energy frontier is currently limited at the LHC energies and may remain so for many years to come. The paper presents the status of NA62, the new rare kaon decay at the CERN SPS


Guide to finding research and information related to the study of children and youth in social work, along with some resources on domestic violence and family issues.


Waterfowl are a diverse group of birds that have widely divergent requirements for survival and recruitment. Whistling-ducks, geese, and swans (Anserinae) and ducks (Anatinae) have contrasting life history requirements. Several goose populations have expanded greatly despite extensive continental wetland losses and degradation. Most expanding populations nest in arctic areas where modifications or disturbance of nesting habitats have been minimal. These grazers often find suitable migratory and wintering habitats in terrestrial or agricultural environments. In contrast, ducks are less terrestrial and populations are influenced more by wetland characteristics, such as quality, total area of wetland basins, and size and configuration of these basins. Because many dabbling ducks nest in upland habitats surrounding wetlands, recruitment of waterfowl is closely tied to both terrestrial and wetland communities. Their primary upland and wetland nesting habitats, as well as migratory and wintering habitats, have been severely degraded or lost to agriculture. Management for waterfowl in North America is complicated further because each of over 40 species has unique requirements that are associated with different wetland types. Likewise, the requirements for a single species are best supplied from a variety of wetland types. In recent years, the relations between migrating and wintering habitats have been identified for mallards and arctic-nesting geese. These cross-seasonal effects emphasize the importance of habitats at different latitudes and locations. Thus, effective management requires an appreciation of the general patterns of resource requirements in the annual cycle. Recognition of the adaptations of waterfowl to changing wetland systems provides opportunities for managers to meet the diverse needs of waterfowl.


Sean McKeever and Michael Ridge object that moral particularism 'flattens the moral landscape', that is, that particularism treats reasons of different kinds as if they were reasons of the same kind. This objection is misguided in two respects. First, particular ists need not say that every feature can be a moral reason. Second, even if particularists were committed to saying that every feature can be a moral reason, they would still not be committed to the view that every feature can have direct moral relevance. The failure of this objection shows that the objection exploits side-constraints that need not be placed on moral particularism.


This collection of writings allows the reader a rare opportunity to see Barzun's lively, engaging, rich, and original mind at work on several strategic areas of cultural inquiry: music and the musical life, esthetics, biography, criticism, and socialcommentary. Barzun makes use of a variety of contexts as a forum for evidence and opinion, including essays, program notes, letters, and reviews. And he approaches a wide variety of particular and general questions. What is it like to sit in on a recording session with a great orchestra? What is the role of the piano in Western culture? What is art in relation to objective reality and to the perceiving mind? Can one translate music into words? What is cultural history? For anyone unfamiliar with Barzun's work, "Critical Questions" will serve as a valuable introduction to one of the most important cultural historians of our time. Others will be glad to have these pieces most of them no longer easily available brought together in a single volume. Uniformly insightful, provocative, and a pleasure to read, they show the consistency of Barzun's thought even as they exhibit diversity."


Microemulsions have been revealed as feasible templates to grow magnetic nanostructures using an electrodeposition method. Reducing agents are not required and the applied potential has been used as driving force of the nanostructure growth. A systematic study of conductive microemulsion systems to allow the CoNi electrodeposition process has been performed. Different surfactants and organic components have been tested to form microemulsions with a CoNi electrolytic bath as an aqueous component in order to define the microemulsions showing enough conductivity to perform an electrodeposition process from the aqueous component. By using microemulsions of the aqueous electrolyte solution-Triton X-100-diisopropyl adipate system, CoNi electrodeposition has been achieved, the structure of the deposits being dependent on the composition and structure of the microemulsion, which can act as a soft-template to obtain different discontinuous deposits. The magnetic properties of the CoNi deposits vary with their structure.


The paper presents a theoretical analysis of travelers' scheduling preferences and the resulting form of the expected utility that includes travel time reliability measures. A series of research papers and reports used the mean–standard deviation approach to evaluate policies that improve travel time reliability. Recently, this approach was theoretically substantiated under the conventional assumptions of constant marginal utility of time (MUT) at the origin, two discrete MUT values at the destination, and constant standardized travel time distribution. In this paper, properties of the minimal expected travel cost are investigated with smooth MUTs at the origin and destination of the trip. The influence of small variations in travel time on travel cost is well approximated by a term proportional to the travel time variance and independent of the distribution form of travel time. Two examples of MUT functions are provided: the minimal expected travel cost can be analytically expressed through moments or through a moment generating function of travel time, and conditions are stated guaranteeing that the expected travel cost is exactly additive by independent parts of the trip. These results provide justification in particular for the mean–variance approach to modeling drivers' decisions under uncertain travel times. This formulation is convenient especially for scheme evaluation in large road networks because it allows the use of conventional network assignment routines by just modifying the volume delay functions to include the travel time variability term.


Astrometric measurements for 25 red dwarf systems are presented, including the first definitive trigonometric parallaxes for 20 systems within 10 pc of the Sun, the horizon of the RECONS sample. The three nearest systems that had no previous trigonometric parallaxes (other than perhaps rough preliminary efforts) are SO 0253+1652 (3.84 ± 0.04 pc, the 23rd nearest system), SCR 1845-6357 AB (3.85 ± 0.02 pc, 24th nearest), and LHS 1723 (5.32 ± 0.04 pc, 56th nearest). In total, seven of the systems reported here rank among the nearest 100 stellar systems. Supporting photometric and spectroscopic observations have been made to provide full characterization of the systems, including complete VRIJHKs photometry and spectral types. A study of the variability of 27 targets reveals six obvious variable stars, including GJ 1207, for which we observed a flare event in the V band that caused it to brighten by 1.7 mag. Improved parallaxes for GJ 54 AB and GJ 1061, both important members of the 10 pc sample, are also reported. Definitive parallaxes for GJ 1001 A, GJ 633, and GJ 2130 ABC, all of which have been reported to be within 10 pc, indicate that they are beyond 10 pc. From the analysis of systems with (previously) high trigonometric parallax errors, we conclude that parallaxes with errors in excess of 10 mas are insufficiently reliable for inclusion in the RECONS sample. The cumulative total of new additions to the 10 pc sample since 2000 is now 34 systems: 28 by the RECONS team and six by other groups. This total represents a net increase of 16% in the number of stellar systems reliably known to be nearer than 10 pc.


Bartter syndrome (BS) type 1, also referred to antenatal BS, is a genetic tubulopathy with hypokalemic metabolic alkalosis and prenatal onset of polyuria leading to polyhydramnios. It has been shown that BS type 1 is caused by mutations in the SLC12A1 gene encoding bumetanide-sensitive Na-K-2Cl (-) cotransporter (NKCC2). We had the opportunity to care for two unrelated Japanese patients of BS type 1 with typical manifestations including polyhydramnios, prematurity, hypokalemia, alkalosis, and infantile-onset nephrocalcinosis. Analysis of the SLC12A1 gene demonstrated four novel mutations: N117X, G257S, D792fs and N984fs. N117X mutation is expected to abolish most of the NKCC2 protein, whereas G257, which is evolutionary conserved, resides in the third transmembrane domain. The latter two frameshift mutations reside in the intra-cytoplasmic C-terminal domain, which illustrates the importance of this domain for the NKCC2 function. In conclusion, we found four novel SLC12A1 mutations in two BS type 1 patients. Development of effective therapy for hypercalciuria is mandatory to prevent nephrocalcinosis and resultant renal failure.


Abstract Objective The purpose of this survey was to assess the prevalence of genital and urinary tract symptoms among Japanese women with declining estrogen levels. Methods A health-related questionnaire survey was conducted among women in their 40s or older to inquire about their genital, intercourse-related, and urinary symptoms and concern over their symptoms. Results Of the consecutive 10,000 respondents recruited, 4488 (44.9%) reported having symptoms: 3546 (79.0%) expressed concern over their symptoms. Furthermore, 2173 women (21.7%) had incontinence, 1999 (20.0%) had urinary frequency, 1648 (16.5%) had itching, and 1560 (15.6%) reported odor; these were followed by looseness, dryness, and burning. Of the 2518 (25.2%) sexually active women, 518 (20.6%) reported having dyspareunia and more reported having urinary symptoms than genital symptoms. Of the symptomatic respondents, 33.1% had genital symptoms alone, 28.4% had urinary symptoms alone, and 38.4% had both. More sexually active women had genital symptoms, while more sexually inactive women had urinary symptoms. Conclusions Genital and urinary symptoms were shown to be common and coexist in a considerable proportion of the respondents, highlighting the pathology of genitourinary syndrome of menopause. Again, dyspareunia and lower urinary tract symptoms were shown to be quite common among postmenopausal women.


Current tests for SARS-CoV-2 antibodies (IgG, IgM, IgA) cannot differentiate recent and past infections. We describe a point of care, lateral flow assay for SARS-CoV-2 dIgA based on the highly selective binding of dIgA to a chimeric form of secretory component (CSC), that distinguishes dIgA from monomeric IgA. Detection of specific dIgA uses a complex of biotinylated SARS-CoV-2 receptor binding domain and streptavidin-colloidal gold. SARS-CoV-2-specific dIgA was measured both in 112 cross-sectional samples and a longitudinal panel of 362 plasma samples from 45 patients with PCR-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection, and 193 discrete pre-COVID-19 or PCR-negative patient samples. The assay demonstrated 100% sensitivity from 11 days post-symptom onset, and a specificity of 98.2%. With an estimated half-life of 6.3 days, dIgA provides a unique biomarker for the detection of recent SARS-CoV-2 infections with potential to enhance diagnosis and management of COVID-19 at point-of-care.


Human monocytes isolated from peripheral blood responded with increased thromboplastin expression upon stimulation in vitro with three mycobacterial antigens: tuberculin purified protein derivative and sonicates of Mycobacterium boviS BCG and Mycobacterium leprae. The stimulating principle of mycobacteria is probably a cell wall constituent since crude extracts of cell walls were 2.5 to 25 times more potent in stimulating thromboplastin synthesis than were whole sonicates. This thromboplastin response was inhibited by inhibitors of RNA and protein synthesis, dexamethasone, and agents that caused elevation of intracellular cyclic AMP. The presence of lymphocytes did not enhance the monocyte thromboplastin response significantly during the first 24 h of incubation. For M. bovis BCG and M. leprae sonicates, the thromboplastin response correlated with general activating effects measured by determining the release of lysozyme and beta-glucuronidase. The role of thromboplastin in chronic inflammatory reactions is discussed.


While microfinance has sometimes been excessively praised, it is now sometimes overly criticized, particularly for being too commercial. It is thus time to question its legitimacy, and this article aims to contribute to this debate. For this purpose, the authors first present a framework of analysis inspired by the work by sociologists Pierre Bourdieu and Luc Boltanski. They then explain the different trends in Latin-American microfinance, they confront recent statistics on the industry with these trends and finally confront the collected data with the proposed theoretical framework.


TO THE EDITOR: From outside the United States, the article by Burris and colleagues (1) on prescribing needles and syringes seems to be a benchmark in the management of injection drug users. The United States has responded more cautiously to a problem considerably greater than ours. Key development of U.S. policy has been of annual (and now biannual) interest at the international AIDS meetings since 1986, when great interest was shown in the British policy of syringe and needle exchange programs. These programs were developed after the 1985 discovery, through the newly available HIV antibody test, of an HIV epidemic among injection drug users in Edinburgh in 1982 and 1983 (2). Massive media coverage stimulated a national committee to consider a response, and within 12 months the first needle exchange programs and legal sanctions were in place (3). Although this seemed like the first national response to this type of crisis, the committee discovered that in Amsterdam in 1985, 100 000 sets of injection equipment had been distributed in a one-for-one needle exchange scheme. The committee also discovered that injection equipment was already sold at community pharmacies in many Italian cities. Since 1986, provision of injection equipment has become standard practice throughout the United Kingdom and many parts of Europe, and the United Kingdom has seen no instances of transmission from discarded needles and syringes. Most of the equipment is sold by community pharmacies with a wide network of distribution or by nonstatutory community groups. General medical practitioners in poorer areas are heavily involved in individual and local programs. The initial legal anxieties and requirements for legal change emerged from the early committee work in Scotland and the subsequent statutory U.K. committee (4). Concern has arisen regarding the prescription of water for injection and the provision of other injection paraphernalia, but for most of us the system has worked extremely well, with few visible side effects. Now, however, renewed anxiety has developed about the level of needleand paraphernaliasharing required to transmit hepatitis C virus, which continues to be identified in new and young injection drug users. Our data indicate that the sharing of spoons, filters, and water requires more attention. Physicians in the United States should be encouraged by these successes but should be aware of the detail required to adequately prevent hepatitis C virus transmission.


Sense of purpose, or feeling that that one has personally meaningful goals and directions guiding them through life, consistently predicts a variety of desirable well-being, health, and social outcomes. However, work has been limited with respect to evaluating it as a predictor and promoter of romantic relationships, or how purpose may develop in these contexts. For instance, healthy romantic relationships could also help individuals develop and maintain a higher sense of purpose. With cross-sectional evidence finding positive associations between sense of purpose and romantic relationship commitment and satisfaction, the current study expanded on past work by using longitudinal data with three months between two measurement occasions (Time 1: N = 2243; Time 2: N = 1284) to evaluate whether sense of purpose predicted relationship status over time and how changes in relationship quality and sense of purpose were associated. Results showed that greater sense of purpose predicted maintaining a romantic relationship, but did not predict later romantic relationship quality, while higher romantic relationship quality predicted an increase in sense of purpose. Findings are discussed regarding why people with a higher sense of purpose may be more likely to stay in relationships as well as the role that positive romantic relationships may play in helping maintain a higher sense of purpose.


laboratory experiment would be homogenously reached in all the material under real scale conditions. Major deficiencies were noticed in the HACCP plan provided. It was concluded that there is no evidence that the proposed alternative method is equivalent to the sterilization process defined in the current legislation.


In 1998, JISC commissioned a Senior Management Briefing Paper on Copyright (JISC, 1998, p.4), which recommended that "all members of HEIs [Higher Education Institutions], whether staff or students should be educated about the basics of copyright and what is acceptable practice". A later study, also in relation to copyright in HEIs, stated that "there would seem to be a considerable gap between the legal position and what academic staff believe are their rights" (Weedon, 2000, p.16). Although this is not a recent study, the difference between the actual situation and the perceived situation amongst academics in terms of the ownership of their teaching materials is still unclear.
Project RoMEO (2003), which focused on author attitudes associated with research outputs, surveyed participants and investigated who owned the copyright of journal papers that these authors had produced. Under one third (32%) of participants did not know this, which is concerning. It is no surprise then that Cornish (2004, p.12) believes the "ownership of copyright is complex".


As a carrier of environmental pollutants, microplastics have received wide concerns in recent years. However, the direct and indirect effects of the coexistence of polystyrene particles (PS) and pollutants on vegetables are still unclear. Here, the combined effects of 0.25, 0.50, 1.0 mg·mL-1 PS and 5 mg·L-1 dibutyl phthalate (DBP) on the biomass and biochemical indices of purple lettuce were investigated in hydroponic experiments. The results showed that the presence of PS increased the inhibition of DBP on lettuce biomass and increased O2-· content in roots and leaves relative to the control group with DBP alone, with positive consequences on the activities of supero-xide dismutase, ascorbic acid peroxidase, dehydroascorbate reductase and monodehydroascorbate reductase. According to transmission electron microscope analysis, plasmolysis occurred in root cells under the treatment of DBP alone, cell wall was damaged in PS-only treatment, and the negative effect was enhanced when DBP and PS coexisted. Therefore, the combined pollution of PS and DBP aggravated the toxic effect on purple lettuce.


In the last years, demand for high-speed Internet access and multimedia service has increased greatly. The IEEE 802.16 Working Group on broadband wireless access is developing the IEEE 802.16 standards for wireless metropolitan area networks. IEEE 802.16 aims at providing broadband wireless last-mile access in a Metropolitan Area Network, easy deployment, high speed data rate and large spanning area. WiMAX also support quality of service architecture include priority scheduling and queuing for bandwidth allocation to support our system more efficient. Therefore, we have an idea to implement some scheduling schemes on WiMAX system in NS2 to analysis in uplink and downlink direction to get better performance. By simulation results, it can show the performance of different scheduling schemes clearly, and which one suit for different specific environment. Finally, we can support an efficient Queuing scheduling theory on dynamic bandwidth allocation to get better performance for the IEEE 802.16 system.


This article addresses the historical context of mental health nursing and its relationship to nurse prescribing.; examines some of the theoretical and philosophical forces that have molded modern mental health nursing, discussing the tensions between the medical model and the psychosocial models favoured by many mental health nurse academics and practitioners over the last forty years; and finally discusses the issues and challenges around commencing prescribing in practice, especially when nurse prescribing is not integral to the practitioner's role.
The article intends to examine the theoretical basis for mental health nurse prescribing, to discuss some of the theoretical tensions which are implicit; and describes briefly the author's own experience as a recently qualified nurse prescriber.


"Sustainability" did not appear in any book title until 1976, but there were many related ideas in the 1970s. A marked transition toward sustainability is now underway, driven by worsening climate change, with roughly 5,000 books and some 500 international organizations calling for sustainable societies, cities, businesses, and economies. This "horizontal" exploration is based on current mapping research for a "Security and Sustainability Guide" to the organizational macro-system. As of April 2015, some 950 organizations have been identified, roughly half concerned with promoting sustainability (and greater social equity and human rights in many instances), and the other half concerned with related topics (security, energy, food, conservation). Roughly, about half of these organizations were initiated since 2000. The United Nations, formed after World War II to promote security, has been a major driver of sustainability in recent decades, with some 30 or so programs. But this burgeoning movement with many leaders and many names still has a long way to go, and success is problematic: 1) accelerating climate change may offset gains; 2) despite a growing number of alliances, consortia, and networks, there is still considerable fragmentation, and the huge number of "coopetitive" organizations may be a political handicap; 3) leading organizations for sustainability are in cosmopolitan cities and countries furthest along the green path to robust sustainability; other countries may be unwilling or unable to follow; 4) major differences among sustainability groups dilute political impact, notably "realos" vs. "fundis," generalists vs. specialists, and scientists/academics vs. activists/popularizers; 5) the broad realm of national and global security is both a barrier to sustainability and a potential driver, once it is realized that we cannot have security without sustainability—and vice versa; 6) infoglut is a major barrier, and better information management is needed; 7) we all have much to learn about sustainability, and "third-level scholarship" is needed to integrate second-level integrators. Illustrative proposals to accelerate efficacy of the sustainability movement include integration of Club of Rome reports, studying relevant alliances and consortia, creating information portals for energy alternatives and new economics that survey progress and prospects, a "portable lecture series" on sustainable development topics, a series of televised "Great Debates" in every country, and a portal for all "New Paradigm/Big Picture" agendas.


Public Reform and Development Secretariat GoK,(2005)
reports indicates that corruption and discretionary powers contribute to the
poor delivery of services in government apparatuses and departments. The loss
of control of records has consequences for all citizens, especially for the
poorest who are least able to defend themselves. Relevant and accurate public
records are essential to preserving the rule of law and demonstrating fair,
equal, and consistent treatment of citizens. All citizens are entitled to
access to records and information yet in most cases, they do not get them or if
they do, it takes a long time because of inadequate information systems, lack
of appropriate use of technology as well as challenges to do with the human
resources establishment and functions. By using
an internet data search on government reports ,books, journalS, articles, and
websites Paper is going to investigate on the effect of record management on public procurement
performance in Kampala Capital City Authority.


Objective: A convenient PCR was used for site-directed mutagenesis to modify structure of proteins or peptides, For function-structure studies of proteins or peptides. Method: the one-step PCR site-directed mutagenesis strategy can introduce mutation of gene through 5/-end of primer, which was applied on peptide Erabutoxin B (EB) to produce three mutants of EB, the activity of mutants was detected by LD50 value of mice. Result: S8Y, R33D, K47R three mutants of EB were obtained by one-step PCR, LD50 of mutants indicated that the activity of mutants decreased in different degree, the activity of R33D was nearly deprived. Conclusion: one-step PCR site-directed mutagenesis was convenien and efficient, it can be applied on restructuring the primary structure of proteins or peptides.


The purpose of the study was to identify educators' expectations and requirements for the design of educational digital collections for classroom use. A series of five focus groups was conducted with practicing teachers, preservice teachers, and science librarians, drawn from different educational contexts (i.e., K-5, 6-12, college). Participants' expect that the added value of educational digital collections is the provision of: (1) 'high quality' teaching and learning resources, and (2) additional contextual information beyond that in the resource. Key factors that influence educators' perceptions of quality were identified: scientific accuracy, bias, advertising, design and usability, and the potential for student distraction. The data showed that participants judged these criteria along a continuum of tolerance, combining consideration of several factors in their final judgements. Implications for collections accessioning policies, peer review, and digital library service design are discussed.


Eucalyptus globulus is an important rapid-growing trees in Eucalypts that applied for agroforestry and tree improvement programs. It has been used as a source of pulp in paper industry, essential oil and honey production. Asexual propagation with conventional methods such as cutting and graft wasnot possible or obtained success was very low, because of hard proliferation of adventitious roots. Then this study was focused on micropropagation of Eucalyptus globulus through mature trees. Apical and axillary buds from adult elite trees in forests of northern Iran were collected in different seasons. The method for sterilization and regeneration was optimized by comparing different combination of plant growth regulators. The highest number of induced axillary shoots was obtained in 0.5 mgl-1 of BA plus 0.5 mgl-1 of Kin after four weeks. Elongated shoots excised at 1.5 cm in length were rooted in 1/4 strenght of macroelements in MS medium with 0.5 mgl-1 of IBA plus 0.5 mgl-1 of NAA and activated charcoal (2.5 gl-1). These plants were transferred in sterile soil at greenhouse condition and successfully established in the field after gradual acclimation.


OBJECTIVES
To calculate the bladder softening factor, elastic constant and contractile potency.

METHODS
For the analysis we considered bladder behavior like that of a spring. See articles 1 and 2 published in this issue. Using flowmetry, Doppler ultrasound and abdominal pressure (Transrectal pressure register catheter) an analytical solution that permits calculation of factors defining bladder behavior was looked for. Doppler ultrasound allows us to know urine velocity through the prostatic urethra and, therefore, to calculate bladder contractile potency.

RESULTS
Equations are solved reaching an analytical solution that allows calculating those factors that define bladder behavior: Bladder contractile potency, detrusor elastic constant, considering it behaves like a spring, and calculation of muscle resistance to movement. All thanks to Doppler ultrasound that allows to know urine speed.

CONCLUSIONS
The bladder voiding phase is defined with the aforementioned factors; storage phase behavior can be indirectly inferred. Only uroflowmetry curves, Doppler ultrasound and abdominal pressure value are used. We comply with the so called non invasive urodynamics although for us it is just another phase in the biomechanical study of the detrusor muscle. Main conclusion is the addition of Doppler ultrasound to the urodynamist armamentarium as an essential instrument for the comprehension of bladder dynamics and calculation of bladder behavior defining factors. It is not a change in the focus but in the methods, gaining knowledge and diminishing invasion.


Anisotropic magnetism of single crystal BaVSe3 was studied for the first time by the combination of the susceptibility and torque methods. As reported previously for polycrystalline sample, BaVSe3 undergoes ferromagnetic ordering below 43 K. Well above ferromagnetic ordering temperature, the torque measurements reveal a continuous symmetry change that influences the ordered state accordingly. We found ferromagnetic easy axis in the vanadium chain direction, i.e., along the crystallographic c-axis. The presence of two ferromagnetic domains of opposite magnetization direction signifies uniaxial symmetry of the ordered ferromagnetic state.


This paper resolves previous problems in the Multi-Strategy architecture for online learning of robotic behaviours. The hybrid method includes a symbolic qualitative planner that constructs an approximate solution to a control problem. The approximate solution provides constraints for a numerical optimisation algorithm, which is used to refine the qualitative plan into an operational policy. Introducing quantitative constraints into the planner gives previously unachievable domain independent reasoning. The method is demonstrated on a multi-tracked robot intended for urban search and rescue.


Background: Busulfan (Bu) is an alkylating agent used as part of the conditioning regimen in pediatric patients before hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. Despite intravenous (IV) administration and dosing recommendations based on age and weight, reports have revealed interindividual variability in Bu pharmacokinetics and the outcomes of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. In this context, adjusting doses to Bu's narrow therapeutic window is advised. We aimed to assess the utility of therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) of Bu in children, the reliability of Bu quantification methods, and its stability in plasma when stored for up to 5 years. Methods: Eighteen patients from our TDM center (252 samples) were included. All of them received a 2-hour Bu IV infusion 4 times daily for a total of 16 doses. The first dose of Bu was age/weight-based, and the subsequent doses were adjusted from third or fifth dose onward based on the estimated first dose pharmacokinetic parameters to target steady-state concentrations (Css) of 600–900 ng/mL. The performance of our unit's high-performance liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry method was assessed using a quality control (QC, 35 series) chart. International, multicenter, cross-validation test (n = 21) was conducted to validate different analytical methods. To assess Bu stability, regression analyses and Bland–Altman plots were performed on measurements at repeated time points on samples stored at −80°C for up to 5 years. Results: We observed a 4.2-fold interindividual variability in Bu Css after the first dose, with only 28% of children having a Css within the target range. During the 4 days of conditioning, 83% of children had their doses modified according to TDM recommendations. This achieved a Css within the target range in 75% of the children. Routine QC measurements were generally within the ±15% range around theoretical values, showing the optimal robustness of our center's analytical method. Two of the 21 Bu TDM centers returned inadequate results during cross-validation testing; both used a UV detection method. Storage at −80°C led to a fall in Bu content of 14.9% ± 13.4% at 2–4 years and of 20% ± 5% by 5 years (r2overall = 0.92). Conclusions: We conclude that TDM is an effective method of achieving targeted Bu levels in children. QC programs are crucial to monitoring and maintaining the quality of an analytical method.


Basal forebrain cholinergic neurons play a key role in cognition. This neuronal system is highly dependent on NGF for its synaptic integrity and the phenotypic maintenance of its cell bodies. Basal forebrain cholinergic neurons progressively degenerate in Alzheimer's disease and Down's syndrome, and their atrophy contributes to the manifestation of dementia. Paradoxically, in Alzheimer's disease brains, the synthesis of NGF is not affected and there is abundance of the NGF precursor, proNGF. We have shown that this phenomenon is the result of a deficit in NGF's extracellular metabolism that compromises proNGF maturation and exacerbates its subsequent degradation. We hypothesized that a similar imbalance should be present in Down's syndrome. Using a combination of quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, western blotting and zymography, we investigated signs of NGF metabolic dysfunction in post-mortem brains from the temporal (n = 14), frontal (n = 34) and parietal (n = 20) cortex obtained from subjects with Down's syndrome and age-matched controls (age range 31-68 years). We further examined primary cultures of human foetal Down's syndrome cortex (17-21 gestational age weeks) and brains from Ts65Dn mice (12-22 months), a widely used animal model of Down's syndrome. We report a significant increase in proNGF levels in human and mouse Down's syndrome brains, with a concomitant reduction in the levels of plasminogen and tissue plasminogen activator messenger RNA as well as an increment in neuroserpin expression; enzymes that partake in proNGF maturation. Human Down's syndrome brains also exhibited elevated zymogenic activity of MMP9, the major NGF-degrading protease. Our results indicate a failure in NGF precursor maturation in Down's syndrome brains and a likely enhanced proteolytic degradation of NGF, changes which can compromise the trophic support of basal forebrain cholinergic neurons. The alterations in proNGF and MMP9 were also present in cultures of Down's syndrome foetal cortex; suggesting that this trophic compromise may be amenable to rescue, before frank dementia onset. Our study thus provides a novel paradigm for cholinergic neuroprotection in Alzheimer's disease and Down's syndrome.


Due to the gradual implementation of the Industry 4.0 vision, information technology is becoming increasingly important in industrial control systems (ICSs), such as production systems. Although the digital transformation of ICSs represents the foundation for resource-efficient and flexible industrial plants, this change increases the attack surface, leading to the emergence of new threats. Moreover, ICSs constitute an attractive target for attackers who may disrupt plant operation, causing severe physical/material damages (PD/MD), such as machinery breakdowns. In further consequence, asset owners (i.e., plant operators) may suffer from business interruption (BI) and loss of profit (LOP). Thus, security risks must be managed in all phases of the ICSs' lifecycle, starting from engineering to decommissioning. Risk assessment is an integral part of the risk management process in which risks are identified, analyzed, and evaluated. In this context, the quantitative assessment is vital, since measuring cyber risks is required to establish an effective decision-making process for security investments. This survey article reviews the state of the art concerning quantitative security risk assessments for ICSs and identifies promising opportunities for future research and associated challenges. We report that the current state of quantitatively assessing cyber risks for ICSs is characterized by the absence of adequate (dynamic) security risk assessment methods tailored to the peculiarities of ICSs. This is aggravated by the fact that the complexity of the threat landscape increases in the light of Industry 4.0, and historical data on security incidents is lacking. As a consequence, asset owners may fail to quantitatively assess their cyber risk exposure, leaving them uncertain about security decisions. Furthermore, if they purchase cyber insurance in order to transfer the risks of non-PD BI, the underlying problem remains unsolved as (re)insurers potentially take on these unassessed risks. As an initial step to guide individuals seeking to improve the quantification of cyber risks pertaining to ICSs, this article concludes by outlining several directions for further research that are worth pursuing.


The thesis is about knowledge management in education: how to create quality knowledge through the e-learning environment which is positively related to students' perceptions of their learning outcomes; and secondly, how to develop communities of practice to ensure effective transfer of tacit knowledge to improve student learning. An effective knowledge management system must address both the creation and transfer of explicit as well as tacit knowledge. This research set forth that tacit knowledge must be converted into high quality explicit knowledge through the e-learning environment. The success in converting educator's tacit knowledge into explicit knowledge to be internalised by the learner as tacit knowledge is very much depended on information quality as the medium for the conversion process. Thus, in this thesis, information quality is an essential concept to examine in the conversion process. This is to ensure that learners are able to derive quality tacit knowledge from this information. Information quality is always relative and depends on the individual or group of students who are evaluating it. Thus, any standardising of information quality has to match to a considerable large group of students' cognitive structures. This research provides an empirical investigation of the relationship between information quality and student learning outcomes. Data for this study were collected by means of questionnaires through the survey manager in the Blackboard Learning System and were evaluated through a combination of multiple regression analysis. Data analysis revealed evidence that the relationship between the quality of information and student learning outcomes is systematically measurable, in that measurements of information quality can be used to predict student learning outcomes, and that this relationship is, for the most part, positive. Furthermore, this research set forth the conceptual review of developing communities of practice (CoPs) to transfer sustained tacit knowledge effectively to improve student learning.


Major-oxide and trace-element compositions of middle Miocene volcanic rocks from north Santa Cruz and Anacapa Islands are very similar. In contrast, they are geochemically distinct from the volcanic clasts from the Blanca Formation, of similar age but located south of the Santa Cruz Island fault, which implies significant strike-slip movement on this fault. The island lavas are also compositionally distinct from the Conejo Volcanics located onshore in the Santa Monica Mountains. The island lavas are part of a larger group of about 12 similar-aged volcanic suites from the California Borderland and onshore southern California that all belong to the calc-alkaline magma series. This group is interpreted to have originated in a subduction environment in one of two possible scenarios: 1) their magmas were produced from the subduction of the Cocos plate south of the Rivera triple junction, which would imply that the Baja-Borderland allochthon onto which they were emplaced experienced northwestward translation subsequent to eruption or 2) their magmas were produced from warm, young subducted slab located north of the Rivera triple junction, which would imply that slab persisted in the Los Angeles area after the triple junction had migrated to the south.